New Beginings
by kitty-kat204
Summary: An update! can you believe it? I finished so read and be merry
1. Chapter One

****

New Beginnings

Disclaimer: Don't own GH in any way what so ever.

A year ago if someone would have told her that her life was going to end up like this she would have laughed in his or her face. A year ago everything seemed so clear. Never in a million years would she have thought that she would be married or pregnant or have a miscarriage or anything else that had happened in her life.

O well there is no use in crying over spilled milk, all she had left to do was get through the funeral and then she was gone. She was going to leave this town for good. All the arrangements were made. _Just get through this last thing and you're gone._

There was no use in saying goodbye to anyone; she was sure no one cared. Her husband was a backstabbing liar and she couldn't wait to get away from him. Her family never really cared what happened to her so she was sure they wouldn't care if she didn't say goodbye to them. And all her "friends" had their own lives now. No, there was no one she had to say goodbye to.

She walked over to where Luke was standing and thought _this is it_. He smiled down at her and helped her get into position. She had never laid in a coffin before and thought that it was a little weird that she was doing it now, but she knew it had to be done to help pull off the illusion she was going for.

"You ready Darlin?"

She shook her head yes and he handed her a small vial to drink from.

"Have a good rest and I promise that I'll be back before they have a chance to put you in the ground."

He was smiling at her and she couldn't help but feel safe. _Wasn't that the reason that you went to him in the first place? _She asked herself.

She closed her eyes then and let the thoughts of what brought to this point come to her.

**__**

***Flashback***

She couldn't believe what she had just heard her husband say. He was talking to a doctor and explaining how he wanted to make her think that she couldn't have children. She couldn't understand it. Did he not want to have her children? Why was he doing this?

She had to know what he was up to so she confronted him. He had claimed that he thought it was for the best and he was only thinking of her and her health. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. She left him that day at the hospital and ended back at her studio down by the docks.

It was weird to walk through the door and not be reminded of all the good times she had had there, but things had changed and she knew there was no going back so there was no point in trying to relive happier times.

She sat on her couch and started to replay every conversation she had with Ric over in her mind. How many times has he lied? How many times did he look me in the eyes and lie straight to my face? If there was one thing Elizabeth Webber couldn't stand it was a liar. That was the reason for her calling things of with both Lucky and Jason. They had done the unforgivable and lie.

She looked down at her hand and saw the ring on her finger. How did I end up married to a liar? She asked herself. Well I'm not going to be married to him much longer.

She took her cell phone out and dialed the number to her house.

"I suggest you call a lawyer Ric, cause that's what I'm doing."

"Why, Elizabeth? Because I care about you enough to want to take care of you?"

"Take care of me? Is that what you call what you were doing? Cause I call it lying. What else have you lied about Ric?"

"Everything I've ever done for you Elizabeth is because I love you. What I lie one time and now you don't love me?"

Shaking her head "you have lied to me more times then I can count Ric, and I hope you burn in hell for every thing you've done. Oh and to answer your question no I don't love you anymore."

"Well, guess what Elizabeth I won't let you divorce me. I will kill before I let you go."

"So what now you're treating to kill me Ric? You would rather see me dead then to have me leave you?"

"I would never hurt you Elizabeth. I could never hurt you, but I swear to God everyone that you care about will suffer if you try and leave me. I might even start with that precious Grandmother of yours."

"You wouldn't dare."

"You have no idea what I would or wouldn't do. If you try and leave me I swear I will go after everyone you love. I have made to many sacrifices for you to leave me."

"What sacrifices have you made? I mean would you rather have me hate you then to let me go?"

"I am going to have the life I have always dreamed of Elizabeth and I'm going to have that life with you. So I suggest that you get back here before the night is through and I have to come looking for you. Cause I swear to God, Elizabeth if you're not you won't have a Grandmother by tomorrow night."

Before she had time to respond he hung up the phone. That was the moment that she realized she was married to a psycho. She had to think of away out of this. She couldn't go to Jason or Sonny to save her. They had done that too much in the past and she knew that they were to busy looking for Carly.

There was always Nicolas. No he was getting ready for his wedding with Emily, and the last thing she wanted was to disrupt their lives. Lucky was to busy trying to find Summer's killer so he was out too.

At that moment Elizabeth realized exactly who she could go to. True Lucky was preoccupied but she could always go to Luke. She knew for a fact that Luke had a soft spot for damsels in distress. She just hoped that he would be willing to do this for her. She said a silent prayer to herself and was out the door headed to Luke's.

**__**

***End of Flashback***

The liquid that was in the small vial had fully taken effect on Elizabeth now. She was laying in that coffin motionless and barely breathing. This wasn't the first time she had faked her death but it was the first time she had decided to start a new life away from everything she knew.

She heard the priest just then. "I invite anyone who would wish to come and speak of the departed." Hey at least she could hear what people had to say about her.

Ric spoke first and she knew that if the drug was not in her system she would have been sick.

"I have not know Elizabeth as long as most of you but I did love her very much. She showed me what it meant to be a better person. In the few months that my wife and I were married we shared a lifetime of love. This is truly the worst thing that has ever happened to me and I will miss her so much. The one thing that Elizabeth wanted more than anything was a family and now she will never have the chance to have one. I guess all I want for her is the peace in knowing that I will never forget her."

__

What a line of crap, was all that kept running through Elizabeth's head. _You forgot to mention that our marriage was nothing but lies and that you threatened everyone's life in this room. At least I won't have a chance to have a family with you, you lying bastard._

She then heard her Grandmother's shaking voice. It broke Elizabeth's heart that this was the only way to protect her.

**__**

***Flashback***

She has found Luke in his office. He smiled at her the minute she walked in.

"Elizabeth, what can I do for you?"

"Can you give me a new life?" He gave her a confused look. "Luke I'm in trouble and I need your help."

"What kind of trouble?"

Elizabeth began to tell Luke the whole story. She told him about her pregnancy and marriage. She also told him about falling down the stairs. She then told him about the lies Ric told her. She let him know that Ric gave her birth control and paying off the doctor to lie about her having children. She then told him about the conversation she had with Ric earlier and the things he had told her.

"You just say the word Darlin' and I can have him taken out of this world."

She smiled. "I'm the one that wants to be taken out. I just need a new life Luke."

"What like the witness protection program?"

"I don't think that having a deranged husband will get me into the program."

"Maybe not, but if you have friends who specialize in something like that. Go with me here we could have you disappear and you could always start a new life somewhere."

She sat across from him and contemplated everything he had said. "It wouldn't be enough just to disappear, if I were going to start over I would have to die."

"You're talking about faking your own death?" She shook her head. "I might be able to help you out there."

**__**

***End of Flashback***

"The one thing that I regret the most about my granddaughter's death is that I don't think she ever knew how much she was truly loved. I look around this room and see everyone that cared about her in some way or another and I can't help but think that she is somewhere watching all of us. I know that she has gone to a better place and I pray that she will watch over everyone in this room and keep them safe. I love you me little angel.

All Elizabeth could think about at that minute was jumping up and telling Grams that she was still alive and that she loved her so much. That was probably the worst thing about this was having people truly mourn for her. _I promise this is for the best and I am keeping all of you safe._

She could hear her Grandmother sobbing and then she heard the next person speak. It was Emily.

**__**

***Flashback***

After talking with Luke and having the knowledge that he was going to help her, she finally decided to head home to the man she hated.

Elizabeth had decided to walk home that night. She was just wanting to clear her thoughts and never intended on running into anyone, but she had no such luck. There on the end of the docks were Emily and her brother, Jason.

She wanted to talk to Emily and tell her everything but if she were going to make the plan work this was only going to be between her and Luke.

She prepared to lie to her best friend, the thing she hated people doing to her and here she was doing it herself. Elizabeth felt like such a hypocrite. 

"Hi Elizabeth" came Emily's cheerful voice.

"Hey Em. Jason." She knew that he probably wouldn't say anything to her, not that she blamed him.

"Elizabeth" Wow, that was more then she expected.

"I was just telling Jason that Nicolas and I are planning on having the wedding in August. You know that way it's a summer wedding but not during the blistering heat."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"And I was thinking that maybe in the next week or two you could go help me pick out my dress and of course you will have to find the brides maid dress you want."

"Bridesmaid?"

"Well, actually maid of honor. Unless you don't want to."

"Of course I do." Elizabeth was so touched by the gesture. "Thank you Emily." Elizabeth couldn't help but tear. _Don't cry yet, you can cry when no one else is around but don't cry now._

She locked eyes with Jason who had been quite the whole conversation. She almost missed saying goodbye to Emily because she had become lost in his eyes.

"Well, I have to go meet Nicolas. I promise to call you later about the dresses Elizabeth" she gave her friend a hug. " And we will finish our conversation later Jason." She said as she kissed her brother. With that she was off and headed home to the man she loved.

The tension on the docks was so thick you could cut it with a knife. She knew she had to say something to him, but what? "You were right." She finally spoke without looking at him.

"About what?"

"Ric" she looked at him and got caught in his eyes again. "He is a monster. I'm sorry I ever doubted anything you said about him."

"I'm sorry that you got hurt."

She let a half smile come on her face "and it wasn't even your fault this time."

His cell phone rang just then. He of course had to go take care of business, probably some lead on Carly. He finished his phone call. "Goodbye Elizabeth."

He began to walk away. "See you later."

He turned then and smiled at her. "Right, see you later."

**__**

***End of Flashback***

"No one will ever be able to replace my best friend. She was someone who lit up a room the minute she walked in. she always tried to find the good and people and I think that's what I will most about her. She had a big heart and the world is a duller place without her in it. 

Dear sweet Emily she always knew what to say. The funny thing was is that Elizabeth could have used everything Emily had just said to describe her best friend. Elizabeth was going to miss her but knew she had to do what she was doing**_. _**Emily I wish you nothing more then a long happy life.

The next person to speak seemed the most appropriates to talk at her funeral. It was her first love, it was her Lucky.

**__**

***Flashback***

She spent the next several weeks planning and replaning everything with Luke. She also spent most of those weeks sleeping in the gust room and avoiding Ric. She couldn't even stand to look at herself in the mirror.

She sat across from Luke once again and they were talking about her death. "So I was thinking that if we let you die in a car accident it would be for the best."

"Could we pull that off? I mean wouldn't there have to be cops and paramedics?"

"Just trust me on this one."

"I trust you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"So have you decided where you wanted to be relocated?"

"I just want to be in a small town on the coast somewhere. Maybe someplace down South."

"I know the perfect place. It's this small town in North Carolina and you will love it. I can even get you a job with this restaurant right there on the water."

"It sounds perfect. But can I do that? Don't I have to have a social security number to have a job?"

"Darlin' you don't work with people in the WSB and not have them do you favors from time to time. All they are waiting on is for you to choose your new name."

"New name?"

"Well we can't have you running around as Elizabeth Webber now can we? I mean we would have gone through all this for nothing."

Elizabeth thought of all the names she had ever wished she could be called. She looked up a Luke then. "Would you care if I made my last name Spencer?"

"I would be truly touched if you did."

"Ok than I know what want my name to be. Morgan Elizabeth Spencer."

"That's a beautiful name but why that name."

"Morgan just sounds southern, (truth be told she was doing it cause of Jason,) and I at least want some reminder of my past life so Elizabeth. and then of course Spencer."

"I always thought you would have ended up a Spencer." he said half joking, but what he didn't know was so did Elizabeth.

**__**

***End of Flashback***

"There are so many things that I will miss about Elizabeth. She was probably the first person other then my parents that I loved unconditionally. She taught me what it meant to be a survivor and how to be strong when faced with difficulties in your life. I will never love someone as much as I loved her and I know that I am not the only one here today that feels that way. Emily said the world is a duller place without her, but the truth is the world is black without her and it will never regain its color. Goodbye Elizabeth."

She wanted to cry. She didn't realize how many people really did care for her and now she was regretting her decision. _No it's for the best. I can keep everyone safe this way._

The priest began to speak again and again she was lost in thought.

**__**

***Flashback***

Everything else up until the night of the car accident was a blur and she would never figure out how she had been able to put on a fake smile and pretend with everyone.

The plan was simple she was going to crash her cars on one of the cliff roads and be discovered by Luke who was going to call his buddy's not only at the police station but at the WSB. All the authorities were to be under cover agents who would pronounce her dead on the scene and she would hide out to the funeral. 

She still couldn't believe she was doing this, but she had to protect everyone she loved.

****

***End of Flashback***

"Before we close the casket I invite everyone to come and say your final goodbye to Elizabeth Webber Lancing."

One by one people came up and said their own goodbyes. Her family all were there. Her Grandmother, her sister, even her parents and her brother Steven. Elizabeth even thought that they cared she had died. _To bad you didn't care when I was alive._

Lucky came and kissed her on her cheek. Emily and Nicolas came and said goodbye. Zander was even there. Gia had come and so did a few other people she would have never thought of.

All the waitresses from Kelly's were there and Bobbie and her son Lucas. A few doctors were there and said their goodbyes.

Sonny was the next to come say his goodbye to her. "I never pictured you going out this way Elizabeth. I'm sorry that you are gone. Lucky is right the world is a black place without you. I've asked Lilly to help you out in your new life and please if Carly is up there with our unborn children let her know that I will think of her often."

It broke Elizabeth's heart to know that Sonny was hurting so much over his wife. She did wish that someone would find Carly and that her and Sonny would be able to rebuild their lives.

Courtney came up next. "Well, you are finally gone. I'm sorry you died but I'm not sorry that I will never have to look at your face again. And in the end I still ended up with Jason. Guess the better woman won."

God, if there was anyone in this world she hated it was Courtney Mathews. There was another good thing about leaving town, no more Ric and no more Courtney.

"I once told you Elizabeth that I didn't want to see you hurt because of me and I swear I meant every word I said. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you. I'm sorry that I was a coward and was never able to tell you what was in my heart. Elizabeth, I just want you to know that what Lucky said was true, I will never love anyone as much as I loved you. I will always love you. I promise that you will never be forgotten. Goodbye Elizabeth."

__

No! Jason you have to say see you later. You can't say goodbye. Please Jason don't say Goodbye. Elizabeth kept screaming in her head but, she knew it was useless.

Ric spoke to her next. "Well, you got what you wanted. you are free from me. I want you to know that I did love you and I was going to give you everything you wanted." He then leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Oh how Elizabeth wanted to spit in his face.

She finally heard the person she had been waiting to hear. "See you in a couple minutes."

To Be Continued

I hope you guys liked it and if you have any questions just ask and I will try my best to answer them.


	2. Chapter Two

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Chapter Two: Port Charles After Elizabeth

Elizabeth couldn't believe she was standing in the graveyard and watching as they lowered her casket into the ground. It had seemed as if everything was going as planed. She only had half an hour now till her train and her new life. 

She was waiting on Luke, who was standing with the others that had been at her funeral. She couldn't help but marvel at the way Luke could look all those people in the eye and pretend as if he had no idea that there was no one in that grave.

He finally made his way over to where Elizabeth had been waiting out of sight. "You ready to catch a train?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied to him.

They made their way to his car and from there the train station. She had never ridden on a train before and was actually looking forward to it. _It's a great way to see the country_, she thought to herself.

Luke stared down at the young brunet, as she was about to board the train. "I want you to call me when you finally make it down there. I don't want to have to worry about you or anything."

"I promise you, I will call the minute I step off the train."

"You remember the name of the restaurant?"

"The Crab House"

"And who are you going to meet down there?"

"Mitch, not a hard name to forget."

"I've already told Mitch to be expecting you. Now he knows that you're related to me, but he doesn't know how and he knows not to ask. He also told me he had a place lined up for you to stay and everything."

"How am I suppose to be able to pay you back for everything you've done for me Luke?"

"Keep in touch." He said meaning it.

She then took Luke into a big hug. It was the type of hug a father and daughter would share after some sappy moment or in her case a sappy goodbye. Once they had finally let go of one another Elizabeth gave him one last look and boarded the train. "Don't forget to call, Morgan." He called to her.

Elizabeth realized then that she was going to be a whole new person. She was no longer Elizabeth Webber Lancing; now she was Morgan Elizabeth Spencer. 

**__**

***Later That Day***

Ric seemed to not realize what he was even doing. After the funeral he had come into his house and opened the door to the panic room. Now he was staring at Carly and he couldn't think of a thing to say to her, not that she was doing much talking either.

Ric just kept staring at her. He had no reason to keep her anymore. _Hell you have no reason to even live, _he thought. _She's gone and nothing will ever bring her back._

Carly watched as he reached in his pocket and pulled out the key to her foot restraint.

"Does this mean you are finally going to let me go?" She questioned him, hoping it would be.

Ric didn't say anything. He only reached over and unlocked her from her prison. Carly didn't waist anytime she ran straight to the front door and home to Sonny and Michael.

He felt nom all over. All Ric wanted to do was find a way to be with Elizabeth_. There is always suicide _he told himself, but even Ric knew that he was to much of a coward to take his own life. Instead he just sat on his couch and waited for either the cops or Jason to show up.

It was Sonny and Jason that showed up first. Ric didn't bother to stop them when they burst through the door and he didn't even deny it when they accused him of taking Carly. Ric knew that Jason would be ready to take his life, so he just waited.

"I just want to know why Ric?" Sonny asked him.

"My plan was simple. Take the child that you stole from Elizabeth and I, only now it doesn't matter. She's gone and nothing matters anymore. So just do what you came here to do and kill me for taking your wife."

"I'm not going to kill you or even have you killed." Sonny said to him. "That's what you want and I'm not going to give you want you want." Instead Sonny reached in his pocket and called the cops to come take Ric c to jail.

Later at Sonny's penthouse Jason had to ask the ultimate question. "Why wouldn't you let me kill Ric, Sonny?"

"I want him to live in the same hell that I lived in when he had Carly. He wants to die because he seems to think that in the after life he and Elizabeth will be reunited and if that's the case I say let him wait awhile."

"There's only one problem with that Sonny." Sonny gives him a curious look. "Ric is going to burn in hell and Elizabeth is already someone's guardian angel." Sonny just shook his head.

**__**

***Sometime in August***

Emily stood at the back of the church shaking like a leaf. This day was suppose to be the best day of her life, and it was, but there still seemed to be something missing, her best friend

"Emily I'm so proud of you." She looked up into the eyes of a blue eyed man. She was happy that he was here and happy that he was proud of her.

"I can't believe that I'm going to marry your brother, Lucky."

"I can." He gave his long time friend a hug. Lucky then got a distant look in his eyes. "You know the last wedding I was at was the one I was going to have with Elizabeth."

"That wedding didn't go as planed if I remember correctly."

"She should have been here today." Lucky said blankly.

"You know I thought she was just as excited as I was about this wedding. She really helped me put this whole thing together before she..." Emily couldn't bring herself to say it. Even though it had been almost a month she still didn't like to talk about Elizabeth's death.

Courtney came into the back room just then. She was the substitute Emily used for a maid of honor. Emily knew that it meant a lot to her brother for the two girls to get along and this just seemed to be the right thing to do.

"As one of my duties as maid of honor I have to make sure you have the four essential things every bride needs. Something old, something new, something barrowed and something blue."

"Don't worry I have all of those things Courtney."

"Ok, just wanted to make sure. Well, in that case I'm going to wait for you outside."

"I'll be out in a couple minutes."

Courtney left the room where the two old friends were. "So that's your maid of honor?"

"I did it for Jason. Trust me no one could replace Elizabeth."

"Here I got this for you." Lucky said as he pulled something out of his breast pocket and handed it over to her. "Since she couldn't be here today I thought I would give you this picture."

Emily looked down at the photograph that Lucky had placed in her hand. It was a picture taken along time ago of the two friends. They were at Kelly's, sitting at the counter and smiling like children. Emily felt her eyes start to tear. "I miss her so much sometimes. The other day I just wanted to talk to her and for a split second I forgot she was gone, but then I remembered and it hurts all over again."

"I know exactly what you mean. I forget she's gone sometimes too. I never thought that I would feel this way about her after everything that happened between us. I'm glad that I do though, it shows how much she really did mean to me."

"You know you're wrong about one thing Lucky. She is here today. She's watching all of us and I think she's happy that we still care."

"Isn't this your wedding day? Shouldn't we be focusing on the good today?"

Just then Alan walked into the room. "Sweetheart you look beautiful." He kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Lucky they are ready for you up front."

"Thank you Dr. Quartermaine." Lucky left the room and headed to the front of the church.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes." Emily said with a big smile on her face. They walked to the back of the church and watched as all the bridesmaids made their way to the front of the church. As the wedding march began Emily stuck the picture Lucky had given her into the middle of her bouquet. _You are with me today Elizabeth._

She walked down the aisle to the man she had loved since she was a teenager. A man that had been there through just about all of her hard times, he was even there for her when she was dealing with her cancer.

Nicolas stood at the front of the church and it melted Emily's heart. She was actually excited about becoming a Casidine. The service was short but very gorgeous. Her dad gave her away and Lou Lou was her flower girl and Courtney was the maid of honor. Lucky was Nicolas' best man and Jason was one of the groomsmen.

They took their honeymoon in Hawaii and moved into Windermere as soon as they got back.

**__**

***November 14***

Carly sat in her hospital bed resting. She had just gone through almost 15 hours of labor and was exhausted. She didn't remember Michael's birth being this draining. She was sitting there thinking of everything that it took to keep her baby safe.

Still Carly gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She was the most beautiful baby girl Carly had ever seen. She had her father's eyes. The baby seem to put everything that had happened that summer in the back of everyone's minds. Now they were focused on Lila Elizabeth.

Carly still couldn't get over herself. She had let that muffin of a girl be apart of her baby's name, but Carly knew that had Elizabeth not lost her life she would have never gotten hers back. She figured the least she could do was pay her back.

Sonny came in just then with the nurse and her baby girl. Sonny's face seemed to light up every time he looked at his baby. Carly knew that with the way he treated Michael and the way he looked at Lila he would be the best father in the world.

"Hey." Sonny said just above a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

"Like the happiest mother in the world. I have two beautiful children," she said as the nurse placed Lila in her arms, "and the best husband in the ever." She finished with a smile and a quick kiss on Sonny's lips.

"The doctor said that the two of you could leave the hospital within the next few days, and the nursery is finished. Carly, I don't know what I would have done if I wasn't able to get you back."

Carly reached out and touched his cheek "But I'm here aren't I? We made it and I'm never going to leave you."

"Last night I couldn't get any sleep cause I thought about Elizabeth Webber. I thought about what would have happened had she not been in that accident, and God help me Carly I was glad she was. I sat there and I thanked God that he let Elizabeth die." Carly could see the tears forming in her husband's eyes and began to feel a little misty eyed herself.

"Stop. Sonny everything happens for a reason and Elizabeth's death is the reason Lila and I are here. And I believe that it was her time, so it's ok to thank God for that."

Sonny hugged his wife and they both wiped their eyes. Carly was right without Elizabeth's death she would have been stuck in some panic room giving birth to their daughter. _Maybe Jason's right_, Sonny thought, _maybe Elizabeth was made to be Lila's guardian angel._

****

***Mid December***

Jason had no idea what he was doing here. Holiday's never really meant anything to him and finding a stupid tree for a religious holiday gone commercial just seemed to him, well, stupid. He never understood the point of taking a living tree and cutting it down just to put lights and decorations on it.

He couldn't even remember a tree he liked, except the small fake tree that was in Elizabeth's studio the Christmas he had been shot. He had liked that tree because it wasn't some big gaudy tree with fancy trimmings, but it was a tree with lots of thought and creativity and yet no bigger then a foot high.

"How about this one?" Courtney asked him standing next to a tree she seemed to like.

"If that's what you want." He told her.

"You know you are no fun at doing this."

"I'm sorry but I just don't see the point. I thought the meaning behind Christmas was Christ's birth not some fat guy coming down the chimney to put presents under a overly decorated tree."

"Since when did you become so religious?" She questioned him. 

"I'm not, I'm just not that big on holiday's, but whatever tree you want I will be more then happy to get for you." He hugged her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I want that one." She said pointing to the same one she had suggested before.

"Then that will be the tree in our home this Christmas." Jason said as he pulled the tag off the tree so that he could pay for it. "You wait here and I'll go get somebody."

Jason walked up to the cash register and handed over his money for the tree that Courtney had wanted. That was when he noticed the small tree that sat next to the register on the counter. The tree looked just like the one that had been in Elizabeth studio, paper chains and all.

Jason's thoughts once again went to Elizabeth. He missed her so much sometimes it hurt. He would lay awake in bed sometimes and just try and remember her face. That was fading from him, not the memories they shared but different looks she would get on her face. Sure he had a picture of her and he even put it in his wallet, but the faces he was beginning to forget were faces she only made while she thought no one was looking.

He had lost her and yet a part of him still felt like she was there. It wasn't her ghost he felt but instead he felt like she was still alive, as if he could still feel her soul. He once again looked at the tree and got an overwhelming feeling of peace. _You're loosing it Morgan, she's been gone for almost six months and you still thank she's alive_, and yet, he could have sworn he saw her in the cemetery the day of her funeral, but he knew it wasn't possible and just blamed it on his grief.

He met back up with Courtney and prepared to take the tree home.

**__**

***Christmas Eve***

It was time for the annual General Hospital Christmas Party and Audrey Hardy couldn't help but feel a little lost this year. Since her granddaughters had moved in with her, Elizabeth had always been apart of the party. True most of the time it took major bribery and blackmail on Audrey's part, but deep down she knew Elizabeth loved to be there for the children.

Elizabeth's death had effected her in ways the Audrey had never expected, she hadn't even felt like this when her beloved Steve had died. Elizabeth had been this family's shining star and now it had fallen. Audrey knew that Elizabeth never felt like she belonged, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

Elizabeth's parents had even felt her loss. The child they ignored for so long and now in death they could not escape her memory and all the things they never had a chance to say to her.

Sarah and Steven were also lost without their baby sister. Steven had problem's concentrating at work and was not doing so well at keeping up with everything. Audrey knew that he would bounce back and would be able to move on, but for now she just let him mourn his sister. Sarah had moved back to Port Charles and was once again working at General Hospital, but she too seemed to not be herself and Audrey had no advice to offer the family.

Audrey turned to look at the big tree that sat in the lobby on the children's ward, there amongst all the other decorations on the tree sat an ordainment made of paper and in the middle had Elizabeth's picture from when she was a little girl. Elizabeth had made that for her Grandparents when she was about the age of ten and Audrey knew she wanted to share it with everyone.

Christmas was going to be a hard time to handle without Elizabeth because it had been her favorite holiday. _I'll make it through somehow_. Audrey told herself. _Watch over everyone in this room and keep them safe, my little angel._

**__**

*** January***

Ric had sat in the Port Charles Jail for nearly seven months and it was finally time for the trial to begin. He knew he was up against federal charges and he also knew that he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

None of that seemed to matter to him though. He had lost his reason for living the minute he had heard of Elizabeth's death. His whole world had gone black and there was nothing he could do.

Ric looked at the sheets on his bed and then at the bars. He had said once that he was a coward and could never take his own life, but the more he thought about it the more the idea looked better and better.

He tied the sheet to the top of his cell by standing on the chair. He then took the other half of the sheet and tied a noose around his neck. Ric had never considered himself a man of prayer but he did say one that day. "God, I'm sorry for everything I've done and I ask that you bring me and my wife back together in the here after, but if that it is not your way I understand. Please keep watch over the people I have hurt and let them know that I am truly sorry for the things I have done. Amen." and with that Ric jumped off his chair and to his death.

**__**

***Valentine's Day***

Luke had been talking on the phone for nearly twenty minutes. It was now becoming a routine to talk at least once a week to his young friend in North Carolina. She seemed to be very happy and settled in her new life.

"So, you are telling me you have no big plans for tonight? Well, so make someone else work." He laughed then. "I don't mean to cut this short but I do have plans. Yes I promise to call you next week. Good bye Morgan."

Luke still wasn't' sure if he was used to that yet. Calling Elizabeth, Morgan was like calling a cat, a dog. Luke began to sort some papers on his desk when he heard a small knock on the door.

"Come in." he yelled through it.

The door opened and there before him stood his beautiful wife. He had had this dream many times before, but this time Luke knew it wasn't a dream. "Laura?" 

"Hi Luke." 

He rushed to her arms and pulled her into a tight hug. "Is it really you Angel?"

"It's really me and I'm home."

Luke and Laura stood in Luke's office for the longest time in that hug and neither one of them had any intention of pulling away from each other.

**__**

*** Early April***

Jason was standing on the edge of the docks just staring out into the horizen. He was finally going to do it. He and Courtney were going to have the wedding they were ment to have almost a year ago.

They were not however going to have it in Port Charles this time. This time they were going to have it someplace in the south in an old church Courtney had found online. they didn't want to take any chances and they figured this was the best way to do it.

Jason still had a bad feeling that he couldn't shake. Ever since he and Courtney had set another date for the wedding he had been feeling Elizabeth's presence more and more. He had know at the time right before her death that he was missing Elizabeth's friendship.

The last time he had spoken to her was the last time they had been on this dock. She had said she would see him later, but that didn't happen. He had wished so many times during Carly's kidnapping that Elizabeth was not married to Ric, not because Jason knew he did it, but because of the times he started to question himself he knew that if Elizabeth was still his friend she would have told him to go with his gut.

He missed her and now she was gone and he was getting married to Courtney.


	3. Chapter Three

****

I know that it has been awhile since I last updated this story and for those of you that were waiting to read it thank you for being so patient. A lot of people keep asking me if this is going to be a Liz/ Jason story and to answer that question, yes it is Liason. Even though in the show they are making Liz stupid and still having her say she's in love with Ric. Anyway I just needed to let you know that I don't own any of the character's except the ones that belong to me. Anyway enjoy.

Chapter Three: Morgan E. Spencer

For eight months now Elizabeth had been pretending to be Morgan and it was starting to put a strain on her. She felt like she was lying to everyone in her life and she hated it, again she was feeling like a hypocrite. She hated liars and that was all she was now, but she dealt with it and was now just becoming comfortable about sharing her past with people. 

She did love living in Dublin Creek. It was smaller then Port Charles so it still had all the fixings of a small town with some southern hospitality to boot. They were all nice and had smiles on their faces and very welcoming to the new girl. She laughed at the thought of her being the new girl after eight months, but people still called her that.

Becoming Morgan was easier then Elizabeth thought it would be. Morgan grew her hair out past her shoulders and kept it very curly. She had a southern accent. She also had two jobs; she was a waitress at night and an art teacher during the day at the local youth center. She lived with a roommate in a great town house in down town. Being Morgan was easy but it was the lies she hated.

Whenever anyone would ask about her past she would have to come up with a story or change the subject. Everyone thought that Morgan had come from Savannah or some other town in Georgia and Elizabeth never said anything else to change their minds.

There were two people however that new she was not from Savannah or that her accent was fake. Her boss and Luke's friend Mitch knew and so did his sister and her room mate Katie. They knew that she was running from something or someone, but they never pressed for answers and therefore they became the people that Elizabeth most trusted, but they still didn't know her real name or any other details about her life.

It was early in the morning, 5:30 a.m. to be exact and she sat in the middle of the Crab House washing the floor. Mitch had rented out the restaurant to some tourist party for a wedding rehearsal and he wanted the place to be spotless, unfortunately he wasn't going to let anyone take a break till it was.

He was nothing like Elizabeth thought he was going to be

**__**

***Flashback to July***

The train ride was a lot longer then Elizabeth thought it was going to be. She had spent most of the ride just thinking and wondering about what was in store for her now. She was moving to a place where she didn't know anyone and that was making her more nerves then anything else.

She stepped off the train and looked around the tiny train station of her new place of residence. There was really no activity around the station so she just simply headed to baggage claim and picked up duffel bag. She then spotted the phone booth and walked towards it. She had promised Luke that she would call as soon as she stepped off the train.

The phone only rang three times before someone picked up and finally said hello, but it wasn't Luke on the other line it was Lucky. She had never counted on Lucky picking up the phone and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to think she was still alive. Elizabeth didn't know what to do so she just hung up the phone as fast as she could.

All of a sudden Elizabeth felt very tired and wasn't sure if what she had done was such a good idea. She needed to sit down before she became sick or fainted. _I should have just gone to Mac and told him what Ric was trying to pull or anything else to keep my life and the people I loved safe. It's too late for what ifs now, Elizabeth._

She glanced around the station again and noticed a man with a sign, and on that sign it read Morgan E. Spencer. She knew right away that this was the friend of Luke's that she was supposes to meet up. So she walked over to the man.

"I'm Morgan Spencer" she told him.

"Mitch Bryant." He stated simply in a very southern drawl and extending his hand. "Do you want me to take your bag?"

"Sure." Mitch was nothing like Elizabeth expected. He only appeared to be a few years older and a lot more attractive then she thought he would be. He was a good six feet tall and had brown curly hair. He had a medium frame and his eyes were blue, almost as ice blue as Jason's but not quite the same.

He dressed in a very preppy manner. Khakis and a button up shirt, but he didn't wear boots instead he was wearing flip-flops. That was something Elizabeth had never seen before, everyone in Port Charles wore real shoes, not something you would wear to the beach.

He smiled at her as he led Elizabeth to his car. "So you ever been down South before?"

"No, this is the first time. I thought I was going to grow old in New York."

"Well, you're going to love it here. I've been to New York before and there is nothin' but rude people up there. Oh and the weather's much better too."

They rode into town in silence. Elizabeth wasn't much for talking right now and she really just wanted to find out where she was going to be living so she could get some sleep. The ride was only ten minutes long and she was glad for that. They pulled up to a street just off of what seemed to be the main drag in the small town and into the driveway of a small town house.

"Luke didn't really tell me what you were into, so I just put a bed and dresser and you know the essentials in your room. I hope that's ok."

"It's fine. All I was hoping for was a bed."

"Well, here it is." He said as he opened the door. The front door opened into a big living room that had already been decorated. Elizabeth could see that off to her left was the kitchen and somewhere beyond the kitchen she herd a dryer. Mitch led her down a hallway and into the back. He opened a door to a bedroom and he was right he only put the essentials in her room. "I hope this is ok."

"It's more then ok." Elizabeth replied.

"I don't know if Luke told you, but you'll be sharen the house with my sister Katie. She's at work right now and should be gettin off soon. She's real nice and I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

"I'm sure we will."

"Well, I'm going to let you get some settled and get some rest. Oh and the bathroom is right through that door over there."

"Thanks."

"For whatever it's worth I hope you'll like it down here."

"Thanks again." Mitch left the room and allowed Elizabeth to do whatever she needed to do to get herself situated.

Elizabeth once again picked up the phone and dialed Luke's number and hoped that it would be him that picked up this time. "Hello"

"Luke?"

"This is him. Who wants to know?"

"It's me Luke." She paused "its Morgan." Elizabeth and Luke had a long conversation that day. They talked about how Mitch wasn't what Elizabeth thought he would be, and about the train ride, and they even talked about how people were doing in Port Charles. 

"There's something else I need to tell you." Luke told Elizabeth in a very serious tone. "Carly came home yesterday."

"Luke that's great news. I bet Sonny is so relieved to have her back. Do you know if her baby is ok? I mean she wasn't my favorite person, but I know what it's like to be all alone and I wouldn't wish that on anybody not even Carly."

"Stop. Elizabeth she was found at your house. Ric was the one that took her and from what she has told the police she's been there the whole time."

"That's imposable. I think I would have noticed if there was someone else in my house."

"Ric had a secret room. There was no way anyone could have known about Carly. Elizabeth I'm sorry."

"I am too. I feel sick Luke so I think I'm going to go now."

"Promise to call me soon?"

"I will I promise. Bye Luke."

"Bye Elizabeth."

She hung up the phone and sat on her bed. How could she have been so stupid? Carly had been under her nose the whole time. All she could think about were the countless times she defended Ric to Sonny and Jason. Oh God she had held a gun on Jason because he had been in her house. She began to become very tired and let herself drift into a deep sleep.

She was fast asleep when Katie came home but, was awoken by a noise in the kitchen. When Elizabeth went to investigate she came upon a girl that seemed to be the same age as herself. The girl just turned and smiled at Elizabeth when she realized she was not alone.

Katie was nothing like Elizabeth had expected either. She had shoulder length light brown hair and blue eyes just like her brothers. She was Elizabeth's height. She was very soft spoken at first and appeared to be very shy. She, like her brother, also had a very southern accent.

She worked at the same restaurant that Elizabeth was suppose to start working at. As it turned out it was owned by Mitch and had been in their family for awhile. 

"So my brother tells me you're from New York."

"Yeah, but you know I just felt it was time for a change."

"You don't have to worry, Mitch already told me that you're kin to Luke and that for some reason you needed to get away. Now I think it's because of like an abusive boyfriend, but I won't go pryin' into your business. If you want to tell me you'll tell me."

"And here I thought you were shy."

"I am. I promise you that, but I figure we're going to be living together and we need to know about each other. Like I said I won't pry, but know that if you need someone to talk to I'm a great listener."

Elizabeth was glad that Katie had offered to listen, but she knew that she would never be able to share all the details about her old life. "I just want to start my life over again."

"I know the feeling. Hey are you hungry? I brought some leftovers over and I could heat something up if you'd like."

"I could eat." Elizabeth and Katie sat down and began to eat a nice seafood meal and talked small talk to get to know one another. The subject came up about Luke and how Mitch and Katie knew him.

"Luke was real good friends with my daddy. He actually helped my dad get the Crab House up and running. They both seem to go for the wild adventure kind of stuff so they just clicked. Anyway we grew up with Luke and we knew that if we were ever in any kind of trouble he could help us out."

"He's really good at that."

"So do you plan on keeping you're Yankee accent now that you're down here?"

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked in confusion and shock.

"Well, it's just that if you don't want anyone knowin' who you are or nothin' like that, then changen' your accent seems like the best thing for you to do."

"I really hadn't given it any thought."

"So think about it. Anyway I'm sure you want to get settled or whatever, so goodnight."

"Goodnight." Katie left the kitchen with Elizabeth still in it. Sure she had changed her name and was planning on changing her hair, but never her voice. Yet at the same time what Katie said had made perfect sense, if she changed the way she talked then no one would ever guess she was from New York and would ever give away that Elizabeth Webber was still alive.

**__**

***End of Flashback***

Elizabeth had been brought back to reality when she heard voices coming in from the kitchen, all of which had deep accents. That was the one thing for sure Port Charles didn't have, southern people. Granted Elizabeth had only been living in the south for eight months but she considered herself a southerner now and was proud of it. They were truly a new kind of people.

"I don't care what you say Mitchell, I'm going home." Katie stated to her brother matter of fact.

"Well, Katherine until my restaurant is clean no one is going home." Mitchell replied.

"They're just tourist. They're flying down from New York, so they can have a wedding in the lighthouse chapel. That's it. They're not the health department or anyone else that's going to shut ya down, and trust me for as hard and long as we've been working this morning the restaurant is clean. I'm goin' home." Katie stormed out the front door leaving her brother in a state of shock.

Mitch came and sat down next to Elizabeth. They sat quite for a minute before he finally broke the silence. "I suppose you wanna go home too?"

"The place is pretty clean, and besides she's right they can't shut you down."

"I know, but these are very important tourist who are willing to spend a lot of money and that's why you've gotta work the floor tonight."

"Me? Why?"

"They're flying in from New York and since that's where you are from you can speak their language. I know you're a reborn again southerner, but you understand these guys."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not from New Your City, I'm from some little town upstate." 

"I know and so are they. They're from so port city. I thing Port Charles or something like that. Anyway just go home and get some sleep or whatever cause you have to be here when I need you." With that said Mitch was up and back in the kitchen.

Elizabeth knew that it was a good thing he had left because she knew that the look of shock on her face would have caught anyone's attention. All she kept hearing was that they were from Port Charles. All she could do was hope that it wasn't anyone she knew. _God, please don't let it be _she said to herself

Elizabeth got up and walked out the door to her house and was once again lost in thought.

**__**

***Flashback to August***

It had only been a month and today seemed harder then any other day to pretend to be Morgan. It was Emily and Nicolas's wedding day and that was all that seemed to consume her mind.

The sound of broken glass brought her back to reality. It just seemed extremely hard to concentrate on work today.

"I swear Morgan if you break one more dish Mitch isn't going to be too happy about it." Justin one of the cooks stated.

Justin was much like Mitch in dress and attitude but Justin was more into hunting and fishing than Mitch was. Justin didn't look like Mitch much either. He was taller by a few inches and a little more built. He had brown eyes and light brown hair. He was also Katie's boyfriend since high school.

"I'm sorry I don't know where my head is today."

"Well, you need to find it cause I'm telling you Mitch is goin' to fire you."

"I know, but my best friend from back home is gettin married today and I guess I just wish I could be there."

"Why aren't you?"

"Can't ask for time off when I just stared."

"Whatever, just don't break nothin' else." he said giving her a stern look. She went back to work and once again her thought drifted to Emily and Nicolas's wedding. _I'm there in spirit you guys I promise._

****

***End of Flashback***

She had walked right past her house and knew it. Elizabeth couldn't get the thought of someone from Port Charles getting married in Dublin Creek. _Who could it be? _She couldn't think of anyone she knew getting married. _Maybe I'll get lucky and it won't be anyone I know, but what if it is?_

Elizabeth just kept walking and thinking of everything that she knew had happened since she left Port Charles, and hoping that this would jog her memory at who could possibly be getting married.

**__**

***Flashback to November 15***

"Luke that's great news. A baby girl. I bet Sonny and Carly are so happy. What did you say her name was again? Lila Elizabeth. That's such a beautiful name. Well, I gotta go. Mitch is signaling me to get back to work. Ok. Yeah. Ok. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Elizabeth was glad to hear the good news about Carly's baby. She had never really liked her or that stupid name Carly had given her but she did feel responsible for what had happened to Carly that summer.

Ric had told the police that he had planned on taking Carly's baby and giving it to Elizabeth once it was born. Elizabeth knew he was sick but once she had found out about that she was glad to be rid of him.

**__**

***Flashback to Mid December***

"I still don't understand the point of getting a real tree." Elizabeth had gone tree shopping with Mitch, Katie and Justin and all seemed very intent on getting a real tree instead of an artificial one like she wanted.

"It's not Christmas unless you have a real tree." Mitch told her.

"Well, the best tree I ever had was a small artificial tree."

"Come on the best tree?" said Justin.

"Yes it was. That was actually my favorite Christmas ever. I spent it with a really good friend at that time and I haven't had one that good in awhile."

" I think that is the most you've ever said about your past Morgan." was Justin's reply. Elizabeth knew that it was true and became increasingly uncomfortable for having shared about herself. Thank goodness for Katie and being able to read Elizabeth's face."

"I learned along time ago that it's easier to just go along with what they want. I mean, the least we can do is make them happy this once, cause the rest of the year we get our way anyhow."

**__**

***Flashback to Christmas Eve***

Elizabeth was really having a difficult time enjoying herself at the small party she and Katie had decided to through at their place. She knew that if she were home she would be at General Hospital's Christmas party with the rest of the town.

She kept thinking of what her friends and family were doing this Christmas. Sonny and Carly were probably sharing a nice family Christmas with the new baby and Michele. Lucky was most likely either with his sister and brother and of course the newest Casidine Emily. She could picture Luke in his office planning something new and not being around anyone. She also thought of Jason spending his Christmas with Courtney.

**__**

***End of Flashback***

It can't be them, can it? Elizabeth thought. She had known that Jason and Courtney were planning on getting married, but she was sure they would have gotten married in Port Charles or maybe even on Sonny's island, but not in Dublin Creek.

That was when Elizabeth realized she was standing in front of the very chapel that the mystery couple would probably share their vows. It was a small, old church attached to the lighthouse. This was her favorite spot in the whole town because the lighthouse sat on top of some cliffs and when you were at the very top of the lighthouse all you saw were different shades of blue. She could go up there some days and paint or sketch. And it was no wonder that whoever was going to get married in the church chose this as the place to start their married life. The church had no electricity so there were very large windows and they all looked out onto the cliffs and into the ocean. _Whoever is going to have this wedding it's sure to be a nice one_, she said to herself.

Elizabeth then entered the lighthouse's door and began to climb the stairs. It wasn't even six in the morning and she knew that to watch the sunrise was one the most cleansing things a person could do. It also gave her a chance to be alone in her thoughts once again.

**__**

***Flashback to January***

The phone call she had just received from Luke was probably the best news she had heard in a long time. Ric had committed suicide. True she wasn't glad he was dead, death was something she would never wish upon anyone, but at least this way he wouldn't hurt anyone anymore.

Elizabeth finally felt like she could be free and not have to look over her shoulder anymore. There was no one else that she feared and she was glad to be rid of that nuisance once and for all. _Burn in hell Ric._

****

***End of Flashback***

Elizabeth just let her feet dangle from the top of the lighthouse as she looked out upon the sunrise.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Father O'Brien said from behind her. "This is one of my favorite of God's everyday miracles. It seems to just bring a newness to everything. Away to start a new all the time. How are you this morning Morgan?"

"I'm fine Father and you?"

"I'm great. There's to be a wedding in the church tomorrow and I don't know call me a sucker but I love weddings. Two people in love coming together and vowing to spend the rest of their lives with one another. You know there is another one of God's miracles."

"You really do seem to be in a wonderful mood this morning Father O'Brien. I wish I was in such a mood."

"Is there something you would like to talk about Morgan?"

"No Father, I'm just in one of those moods."

"Well, if you change your mind my door is always open. I have work to do now but feel free to stay up here as long as you like. Oh and I hope your mood brightens with the day."

"Thank you Father." They both smiled at each other and Father O'Brien walked back down the stairs to his office. For some reason since Elizabeth had moved down here she had found herself going to church every Sunday and was becoming more at peace with every sermon she heard.

Elizabeth sat at the top of the lighthouse for the longest time with no signs of showing that she was tired and once again she was lost in thought about the last few months as Morgan.

**__**

***Flashback to Valentines Day***

Elizabeth had been on the phone for nearly twenty minutes with Luke. It was the only thing that kept her sane anymore. She knew that if she didn't talk to Luke at least once a week she would loose it. Hearing about her family and friends was away of not being alone anymore and have a touch of home. Sure she was happy in North Carolina, but she still missed home. 

"No I don't have any big plans tonight. I have to work. Trust me if I could I would. Just promise me that you'll call me next week. Bye Luke."

She hung up the phone and looked around the tiny restaurant. For a holiday that people liked to go out and eat there was no one in that place. In fact the only people there that night were her and Mitch, not that she was complaining.

Mitch had truly become her best friend. He was the one that Elizabeth felt like she didn't have to pretend in front of. In many ways he reminded her of Jason, but she was glad he wasn't, because she knew that in her heart of hearts no one could replace her Jason.

He was cute though and as hard as she tried Elizabeth couldn't help but be attacked to Mitchell Bryant.

"Maybe we should just close up shop for tonight." He said walking over to her.

"I think we should keep it open. You never know who might come walking through the doors. Besides if we do then all I'm going to end up doing is go home and feel sorry for myself because I don't have a date for Valentines Day."

"Well, neither do I. Tell you what, we can close early and maybe you and I could do something together."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" 

"No. It's not a date. Unless you want it to be."

"In that case it can't be a date." Mitch gave her a sad look. "It's not that I don't like you. It's just that I have really strong feelings for someone else and it wouldn't be fair to you."

"Anyone I know?"

"No." she said shaking her head. "It's someone from back home. Someone I owe my life to."

"Well, I hope he knows how lucky he is to have someone like you care about him."

"Probably not. When I left we were barely on speaking terms."

"Then why do you still like him."

"For along time now he's been the one I've been in love with. I've only been out with three people, but he just seems to be the one that always filled me with something none of the others could. He let me be myself and never looked at me in a weird way. He understood me like none of the others did. More then anything he was my best friend. You want to know the funny thing. He and I never kissed more then three times."

"I had a girl like that once. Her name was Marianne and she took my breath away every time I would look at her. She was so goofy, but it was the sweet kind of goofy. I think she's one of the only girls I've ever been truly happy with."

They both sat in silence for a long while lost in their thoughts about people they once loved or still loved.

**__**

***End of Flashback***

By the time Elizabeth had realized what time it was most of the morning had already passed. The sun was nearly above head and her stomach was growling from hunger pains. Down below she could see Father O'Brien talking with someone, someone that looked very familiar but she was not able to place. _Must be someone from town_, she told herself. 

Elizabeth looked down at her watch. It was only eleven and she figured it would be ok to stay up there a little longer. She still wasn't able to face the fact that she might see someone she knew from back home. So she sat and thought. She thought of all the people it could possibly be and ran ever scenario through her head.

******

Jason liked the small church that Courtney had chosen to get married in. He was glad that they decided to have the wedding out of town because to him it was kind of like eloping. The priest was showing him around and discussing every detail about the historic church. Jason loved the church most probably form every window you could see the ocean.

Jason walked out the front doors of the church and stood for awhile just looking out into the horizon.

"Beautiful view isn't?" He heard the priest say from behind him. "I think that is one of the main reason's why I love this church so much. Where else are you going to get an ocean view and be surrounded by God's work?"

"No where I guess" Jason responded to the priest. "So do you run the lighthouse as well?" Jason asked as he looked over to it.

"Oh yes. It's one of my many duties as priest here at St. John's. It's not that hard you just flip a switch and the light comes on."

Jason allowed his eyes to go to the very top of the lighthouse. He wanted to make sure that he would see the view before he left this small town. When his view finally hit the top he noticed someone sitting at the very top.

"Is there someone up there?"

The priest followed Jason's eyes and spotted the young girl. "That's Morgan Spencer. She's one of my parishioners and a youth leader down at the youth center. She teaches art and she is quite the artist. I'm sure I could introduce you if you like?"

Though Jason couldn't take his eyes off of her and felt very drawn to her, just like he use to feel around Elizabeth, he knew it would not be the wisest things to do. Even he knew that meeting someone like that the day before your wedding wasn't smart. Instead he just declined the offer and went back inside to regroup with Courtney, Carly, Sonny and the kids.


	4. Chapter Four

I'm sorry that it took me so long to post this but I couldn't think of away to have Jason and Elizabeth meet. I promise the next chapter will be up soon. Enjoy the story.  
  
Chapter Four: Discovering the Truth  
  
Somehow Elizabeth had gotten out of working the floor and now she stood in the kitchen pacing back and forth like a nervous cat. She knew the chances of anyone finding out about her were very slim, but that still didn't stop her from fearing the worse.  
  
Upon arriving at work that afternoon Elizabeth had learned that the person renting out the restaurant was Sonny. She knew that meant that Jason and Courtney must be the ones getting married in the church then.  
  
Katie came walking through the kitchen doors then with a big smile on her face. Before she even gave the orders to Justin she walked right up to Elizabeth and said simply and much like a little school girl. "That is the cutes groom I ever seen in my life." Justin just gave her a look and began to cook the orders.  
  
Elizabeth laughed at the bitter sweet truth behind Katie's comment. Jason was one of the best looking men she had ever met in her lifetime. Still Elizabeth was glad that she didn't have to see him.  
  
"So how many people are out there?" Elizabeth asked, hoping not to sound to desperate for information that could help her figure out who may be out there.  
  
"Umm.the bride, the groom, his best man, the maid of honor, the bride's parents, the groom's parents, I think maybe the groom's sister and her husband, some other guy that seems to be close to groom and some really like bouncer looking guys. Oh and two kids. All and all it's a small wedding it seems."  
  
"If you are so curious why don't you just poke your head out the door and look for yourself?" asked Justin.  
  
To cover her tracks Liz had to think fast. "I didn't ask who was out there, I asked how many. I was being a good friend and making sure she didn't need any help.  
  
"No. I'm good, but thank you for asking." Katie said "And when did you become so rude?" She asked Justin.  
  
He didn't answer he just simply went back to cooking the food and Katie went back out of the kitchen.  
  
Elizabeth had been in some very interesting situations, but she was never as scared as she was right now. She was so afraid that she would see someone and they would blow her cover and everything she had worked for here. Sure she loved Port Charles and the people there, but she was no longer Elizabeth Webber and she was sure she didn't want to be ever again.  
  
Jason didn't know what it was about this town, but ever since he stepped foot into it he could feel a strong presences, the presences of Elizabeth. He knew that it was imposable because she had never been here and she had been gone now for eight long months, but there was something here he couldn't put his finger on.  
  
He had felt it that morning at the lighthouse. It was as if Elizabeth was right there. Why did he keep doing this to himself? She was gone. He knew why though, it was the guilt he felt for not being able to protect her when she needed him most.  
  
Ever since they had become friends Jason was always there looking out for her, but since their falling out they hadn't done much talking and every time he tried to warn her about Ric she always said he was just jealous. The truth of the matter Jason was jealous of Ric. Ric had everything Jason wanted, he had Elizabeth.  
  
Jason looked around the table; they were all here everyone one he cared about his brother and best friend, his sister and her husband, Monica and Alan, Lucky who had become a surprising friend after Elizabeth's death, and his beautiful bride to be. They were all here, everyone that is except Elizabeth, yet somehow more then ever he felt her in this restaurant.  
  
Courtney was so happy to be here. She still couldn't believe that within the next twenty-four hours she was going to be married to Jason. He was the man of her dreams; he protected her and watched over her. He was her everything.  
  
There was only one problem with all of this, she wasn't his everything. She never doubted for a minute that he didn't love her; she just felt that he wasn't in love with her. He would stay with her till the end because of duty, but she had a feeling he wouldn't love her to the end.  
  
She wasn't sure if she should tell anyone how she was feeling, because she just felt they would tell her she was nervous about the wedding. It was weird she thought that with Elizabeth's death Jason would open up to her more and let her be the one he did things with, but instead he just kept to himself and kept Elizabeth in his heart locked away in a corner where Courtney could never go.  
  
Sonny was happy. He had his family there and he was finally going to make Jason truly apart of his it. Sonny still couldn't picture Jason and Courtney together though. It was not because he wasn't happy for the both of them it was because Sonny had seen the types of girls he liked and none of them seemed to match Courtney.  
  
There was Robin; she was probably Jason's first love. She was sweet and taught Jason what it meant to love. She showed him why people fall in love and to Sonny they seemed to be a very good match. She however did end up betraying Jason and therefore broke his heart.  
  
Next there was Carly; she was wrong for Jason from the start. She showed up and tore his world apart. The only good thing that she gave him was a chance to be a father to Michele. It's funny how history repeats itself, because Carly betrayed Jason too. It wasn't the lose of Carly that broke his heart though it was the lose of Michele; none the less his heart was broken.  
  
Then there was Elizabeth; she was the one that Sonny truly saw Jason ending up with. Unlike all the other girls he hadn't saved her, but rather they had saved each other. She was sweet and kind like Robin, but if push came to shove she had a bit just as bad as Carly's. Sonny knew that Jason and Elizabeth were in love with each other even if they didn't, but the funny thing was that in the end it wasn't Elizabeth that betrayed Jason, but Jason who betrayed her.  
  
Now Jason was ready to marry Courtney. She seemed to be a good choice, except that Sonny could tell his best friend really wasn't in love. Sure Sonny knew that Jason loved her and would protect her, and would do anything for her, he just knew he didn't love her.  
  
Sonny kept his mouth shut though. The last thing he wanted was to ruin their big day.  
  
Carly was happy for her best friend. He was marring the right girl. Carly never really cared for anyone that Jason dated, but Courtney was different. She wasn't like St. Robin or that Muffin Elizabeth, no Courtney was more like herself. She had once heard someone say that Courtney was a poor mans Carly and it was true, maybe that's why Carly liked her so much.  
  
Carly turned from her friends to watch her children play now. Michele was such a good big brother to Lila. He was watching over her and showing her his new model plane that he had just gotten.  
  
"Do you wanna see it fly?' he asked his baby sister.  
  
Michele then let go of his airplane with a great thrust. Carly, Michele and Lila all watched as the plane flew up and into the wall where a picture was hanging, and just like the laws of gravity say both the plane and the picture fell.  
  
Carly got up from her seat and walked over to the fallen frame and began to pick up the broken glass.  
  
"You don't have to do that." The young waitress that had been serving them had walked over now with a bus pin and took the broken glass from Carly's hand. As the waitress finished picking up the glass Carly picked up the picture and looked at it.  
  
Carly was sure she turned white the moment she looked at it, because she had felt like she was looking at a ghost. There in the middle of the picture stood Elizabeth Webber. Carly was shocked; everyone had said she had died in a car accident. Had Elizabeth been here before? No Carly answered her own question. She couldn't have been. But then how do you explain the picture?  
  
Carly then realized that the young girl was holding out her hand for the picture. She had to know if the girl in this picture was Elizabeth. "It's a very nice picture" she said as she handed it over, "who are the people in it?"  
  
Katie looked Carly up and down but decided there would be no harm in telling her. "That's just some of us that work here. The one of the left that's my brother Mitch, umm.that's me, Morgan, one of the other waitresses, and one of the finer cooks we have Justin." She said the last name with a smile on her face.  
  
"That girl Morgan looks real familiar, do you know if she's ever lived in New York?"  
  
At the mention of New York, Katie was becoming very suspicious of Carly. This was the first time that anyone had ever asked about Morgan, and Katie thought better of it then to tell Carly. "No, Morgan lived in Savannah before she moved up here eight months ago."  
  
Carly's mind went to work with the mention of the time frame. "My mistake then." Carly said to Katie and walked back to her seat. All Carly could think about was what Katie had said, eight months that girl had been here and eight months ago Elizabeth had died. Was there a possibility that Little Lizzie Webber had faked her death? Carly looked over at Jason and Courtney and thought to herself I just hope if it is her that Jason didn't find out about this.  
  
Katie walked back to the kitchen holding the bus pin and the picture. She wasn't sure if she should say anything to Morgan. The last thing Katie wanted to do was alarm her and make her go on the run again. Katie liked Morgan to much to put her through that.  
  
Elizabeth noticed the picture as soon as Katie walked into the kitchen. "What happened?"  
  
"The little boy accidentally hit the picture." Katie searched Elizabeth's face to see if she should tell her. "When I was picking up the glass the mother of the boy saw the picture. She said you looked familiar to her and asked if you ever lived in New York." Katie prayed she was doing the right thing by telling her this  
  
Elizabeth immediately shot her head up. Carly knows! "What did you tell her?"  
  
"I told her you were from Savannah. I'm not that stupid to tell someone I don't know about you? Really Morgan." Katie was hurt that Morgan didn't trust her to do the right thing.  
  
Elizabeth had a look of sheer terror on her face. Someone had found out and of all the people it could have been it was Carly. She had to leave, maybe even skip town. She looked at Katie with thanks in her eyes, "I've got to get out of here."  
  
"Why? Why can't you stay? Who are those people and why don't you want them to know you are here? Morgan?" Katie questioned.  
  
Elizabeth was about to push open the back door when Mitch walked out of his office to find out what was going on. "Morgan, where are you going?"  
  
"I have to leave."  
  
"Why?" he questioned her.  
  
"The people out there in your restaurant are from the town that I left in New York and from what your sister just told me one of the people I can't stand the most just found out that I might be here."  
  
"So that means you have to leave? I don't think so." Elizabeth turned and faced Mitch with a look of plea and anger across her face and in her eyes. "You still work for me and you know that since Katie worked the floor tonight you get to clean it."  
  
Mitch wasn't trying to be mean or come off like a prick he was just afraid that if she left he would never see her again. The truth was that he was quite fond of Morgan and he didn't want to loose his best friend. He knew that many people thought they were an item or something but it was nothing like that. They were friends and he wasn't ready to loose her.  
  
"You've got to be joking? Mitch I have to get out of here, if I want to stay here. Don't you get that? If they see me then that's it they know the truth and I don't want that. I want to stay here. I want to be Morgan Spencer not Elizabeth Webber." She was so scared of Carly or Sonny or Jason or anyone else finding out that she just started to ramble on.  
  
"Who's Elizabeth Webber?" Mitch finally asked breaking her ramble.  
  
Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears and she knew that it was time to tell her friends the truth. "I'm Elizabeth Webber, or at least I was eight months ago." Elizabeth let it all out. She spilled everything about who she was and why she had come here. She knew that they needed to know and should have known from the start. "I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you this from the beginning" She finished. "The funny thing is is that I hate liars and that's all I ever did ya'll."  
  
"You did what you had to do." Mitch said giving his friend a big hug. It was then that Elizabeth finally let every tear out. These were tears of stress, tears for her husband, and tears for everything else she had been through.  
  
Mitch could feel her shake in his arms. His sister tried to come and comfort her as well, but he knew she needed to get back out to the guest before anyone became suspicious and came back to the kitchen.  
  
Katie knew right away what the look in her brother's eyes meant. She had never thought that Morgan had gone through all that. Could she still call her Morgan or was she supposed to call her Elizabeth now? She walked out of the kitchen and stared at the people Morgan once knew. They had no idea about what had happened and if it was going to be up to her they wouldn't. She was going to make sure her friend was well protected and taken care of.  
  
Sonny and the rest of his gang had left the restaurant not long after Elizabeth's confession to her friends. She actually felt very liberated now that everything was out in the open. She knew that they would never let anyone find out the truth.  
  
She was now bussing the tables and cleaning the mess that the diners had left. There was apart of her that wanted to run out and find Emily or Nicolas or Jason and tell them the truth, tell them why she had to do what she did, but she knew better.  
  
Elizabeth was busy washing off the tables and never heard the front door open or saw the blond that had walked in looking for her purse. It wasn't until she spoke that Elizabeth realized she wasn't alone.  
  
"So you are alive?" Carly asked her.  
  
Elizabeth turned and looked at Carly. Elizabeth was half frozen with fear and couldn't manage to say a word but shook her head to let Carly know that it was really her  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why what?" Elizabeth finally managed out.  
  
"Why fake your death? Do you have any idea how some people act now that you're gone? Don't you think that was a little selfish of you?"  
  
Yup Elizabeth still couldn't stand Carly. "I left because of Ric. I told him I wanted a divorce but he threatened everyone I cared about so this was the only way I knew of to leave him and keep the people I love safe. I thought you would understand that."  
  
"I understand that. It took guts to do that Muffin, to sacrifice yourself for your family."  
  
"Thanks" Elizabeth said confused by the complement.  
  
"So I take it you know that Jason and Courtney are getting married tomorrow?"  
  
Elizabeth shook her head "I know"  
  
"Then I take it you're not going to try and stop it?" Carly asked moving closer to Elizabeth.  
  
"I'm not going to try and stop them from getting married. That's the last thing I want to do."  
  
"Good. Their wedding day was already ruined once."  
  
"I know and I'm sorry for everything that you were put through."  
  
"Do you want anyone to know that you are alive?" Elizabeth shook her head. "Then I won't tell anyone."  
  
"Thank you." Elizabeth said to Carly with true appreciation.  
  
"Before I forget have you seen my purse? That was the real reason I came in here."  
  
"Sure." Elizabeth led Carly over to her purse and saw the woman out. For some reason Elizabeth trusted Carly to keep her secret. It was actually a comfort to her to have someone form back home other then Luke know the truth.  
  
Elizabeth spent the rest of her time cleaning in thought.  
  
Jason had been sent away by Carly when she got back from getting her purse. Carly said it was bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding. He didn't mind though it gave him a chance to take a walk and clear his head.  
  
Jason had only been walking for a couple minutes when he ran into the priest from earlier that day. "Good evening Father" he greeted the priest with a smile.  
  
Father O'Brien turned his head and looked to see Jason. "Same to you Mr. Morgan. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine. I was shoed away by the bride so I thought I would take in the town. Nice dog by the way."  
  
"This is Chloe she's a yellow lab." He petted his dog on her back. "She's very picky and only likes to take walks during the night."  
  
The two men walked in silence for a few minutes until Father O'Brien spoke. "I always preferred the night. It's just so peaceful; you never have to worry about keeping up with the sun. That's odd the lights in the youth center are still on."  
  
Jason looked up to see the building that Father O'Brien was talking about. That was when he noticed a hand in the window painting the frame. "Someone is painting in there."  
  
"Must be Morgan then. She comes in after she gets off work and paints the frames to whatever mood she's in or maybe what season it is. Would you care to meet her tonight then since you didn't this morning?"  
  
Jason just stared at the hand as it painted. He hadn't watched anyone paint since Elizabeth. At that moment he felt like he was watching her again. What would be the harm in meeting someone new? "Why not? I'll be able to see some of the locals in this town."  
  
Father O'Brien led the way inside the center and music filled the ears of both men. It was country music something Jason himself was not used to hearing. The dog Chloe ran to the painter the minute she was in the door.  
  
Jason stared at the back of a burnet's head. He felt Elizabeth as soon as he walked in the door. What is going on? He asked himself.  
  
"Morgan there's someone here I would like you to meet" The priest yelled over the music. "He's here visiting."  
  
Jason was busy looking around and then realized the music had stopped. He turned his attention to the girl and was shocked by what he saw, because right before his eyes was Elizabeth Webber. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Jason and Morgan Meet.  
  
"That's odd the lights in the youth center are still on." Father O'Brien said.  
  
Jason looked up to see the building that Father O'Brien was talking about. That was when he noticed a hand in the window painting the frame. "Someone is painting in there."  
  
"Must be Morgan then. She comes in after she gets off work and paints the frames to whatever mood she's in or maybe what season it is. Would you care to meet her tonight then since you didn't this morning?"  
  
Jason just stared at the hand as it painted. He hadn't watched anyone paint since Elizabeth. At that moment he felt like he was watching her again. What would be the harm in meeting someone new? "Why not? I'll be able to see some of the locals in this town."  
  
Father O'Brien led the way inside the center and music filled the ears of both men. It was country music something Jason himself was not used to hearing. The dog Chloe ran to the painter the minute she was in the door.  
  
Jason stared at the back of a burnet's head. He felt Elizabeth as soon as he walked in the door. What is going on? He asked himself.  
  
"Morgan there's someone here I would like you to meet" The priest yelled over the music. "He's here visiting."  
  
Jason was busy looking around and then realized the music had stopped. He turned his attention to the girl and was shocked by what he saw, because right before his eyes was Elizabeth Webber.  
  
Elizabeth didn't know what to do. She was looking at Jason Morgan. She had dreamt of this before, but the fact that this wasn't a dream meant that she couldn't blow her cover.  
  
Now more then ever she had to be Morgan. She was glad he wasn't paying attention to her yet; it gave her a chance to compose herself. She waited to turn off the music until she was sure Jason had taken in his surroundings.  
  
She turned off the music and put on the best fake smile she could muster with her best effort to sound southern she spoke "Hi, I'm Morgan."  
  
Jason still looked at her in shock. "Elizabeth." Was all he was able to say.  
  
"That's my middle name. How did you know that?" she asked playing dumb.  
  
"Where are my manners?" Father O'Brien said. "Morgan this is Jason. He and his fiancé are getting married tomorrow in the church. They're from New York."  
  
"I've always wanted to go to New York City. The museums there I here are awesome."  
  
"You've already seen the museums in New York City, Elizabeth."  
  
"No, I haven't. This is actually the first place I've ever lived in without family around. I grew up in Savannah, Georgia. I've never even stepped foot out of the South. And would you please stop calling me by my middle name."  
  
Elizabeth knew that Jason knew. He had been in his business to long not to know the truth. She was sure that if she kept acting like Morgan though she could fool him. She prayed that was the case.  
  
Jason knew that this girl before him was Elizabeth. The connection he felt was to strong for it not to be her. She looked like Elizabeth, she had the same body type and Jason saw that she even had the spark in the eyes that he had only seen in Elizabeth. Sure she didn't sound like Elizabeth and her hair was different but it was her, he was sure of it, or at least he prayed she was.  
  
"What are you painting?" Father O'Brien asked her trying to break the tension in the room.  
  
"Van Gogh's Stary Night. It's my favorite, Father. Do you like art Jason?" She still needed to play dumb. She needed him to think it wasn't her.  
  
"You know I'm not good with art Elizabeth. The only painting I ever understood was The Wind, you know one of yours."  
  
"The Wind?" she asked. That was when she made eye contact with Jason.  
  
When his eyes locked on hers it was as if they were the only two in the world. He wanted her to come clean and in her eyes he could see that she wanted to, but for some reason wouldn't. All he wanted was Elizabeth, but it seemed as if she didn't want to come to him.  
  
Fine, have it your way Elizabeth, he said to himself. "You use to take bike rides with me. You said you painted what you felt and saw from the back of that bike. That was the one time when you said you felt safe. You use to tell me that you felt like you could fly if you ever let go, but I never let you go. Your favorite thing ever about the rides though, was when we would take the corners fast. You were fearless. I never saw a girl love bike rides as much as you did Elizabeth"  
  
"The closes I've ever been to a motorcycle is the dirt bike my brother use to have, and I was never allowed on it. I don't know who you think I am but I'm not her. Elizabeth as you keep calling me isn't my name. It's Morgan."  
  
Jason couldn't figure it out. Did she have amnesia or was she purposely pretending to be this Morgan? That wasn't like the Elizabeth he knew though, she hated liars, so she couldn't be lying to him. This was probably the first time Jason ever felt lost and he didn't like it.  
  
"You're her I know it."  
  
"I'm not her. I've never been to Port Charles, I've never painted a picture called the Wind, I've never been on the back of a motorcycle, and I've never seen you before in my life."  
  
That was what Jason had been waiting for. Neither Father O'Brien nor he himself had said what part of New York Jason was from. He had caught her, but for some reason he didn't feel like busting her. When she had spoken there was something in her voice that was begging him to stop with the interrogation. He could see it in her eyes as well.  
  
"My mistake then, I didn't mean to upset you. The girl I'm describing is someone that I was in love with and she passed away a few months ago. I guess I'm not yet over it. The thing is though is that you look so much like her. I apologize again."  
  
Elizabeth was confused, had she won? Did Jason really think that it wasn't her? So many questions were running through her head. She couldn't speak. Her eyes however were still locked on Jason's.  
  
Without breaking eye contact with Elizabeth, Jason spoke. "Father, I will see you tomorrow afternoon for the service." He shook the priest's hand. "I'm sorry again. It was nice to have met you." Jason stuck is hand out for her to shake. Even before they touched they both felt a spark. It was the same spark they use to feel whenever they were around each other. Jason released her hand. "Good night."  
  
Elizabeth watched him leave and it broke her heart. Apart of her wanted to chase after him and tell him the truth, tell him that she still loved him that she always had, but she knew better. He was gone now, and as much as she didn't want to, Elizabeth hoped forever.  
  
******  
  
Jason rushed back to the hotel. He had to tell someone, he couldn't keep this to himself. He rushed to find Sonny. He didn't have to look very hard though. Sonny and Lucky were both in the lobby of the hotel.  
  
Jason couldn't talk. He was out of breath from running to find them. Sonny and Lucky looked at one another and then at the heavy breathing Jason. "Jason what's wrong?" Sonny finally asked.  
  
After catching his breath Jason finally spoke "It's Elizabeth. I saw her."  
  
It hurt both Sonny and Lucky's heart to hear Jason speak about Elizabeth. Lucky knew what it was like to have loved that girl and he now knew that Jason loved her a lot more then he would have ever imagined, and Lucky also knew what it was like to have thought he had seen Elizabeth.  
  
"Jason, Elizabeth is gone; remember she died in a car accident. You were there at her funeral. You saw her body." Lucky told him.  
  
"No, Lucky I saw her. She's going by some other name now, a Morgan Spencer. It was her I know it."  
  
"Then explain the body in her coffin, because that was her too. Trust me I was there I saw her and as much as I don't want her to be gone she is Jase. Elizabeth is gone."  
  
"Lucky she screwed up. She was becoming annoyed with me and she had said she had never been to Port Charles."  
  
"So, what does that have to do with anything?" Sonny said joining the conversation.  
  
"I never told her where in New York I was from. She knew about Port Charles and I never told her. It's Elizabeth."  
  
"That doesn't prove anything Jason." Lucky was becoming very frustrated now. He didn't like that Jason was doing this to himself and to him. Lucky was only now becoming alright with the idea of Elizabeth not being around, the last thing he needed was this.  
  
"We're in a small town. People talk in a small town, she probably overheard something. I saw her body in that coffin I touched her cold body."  
  
"This isn't the first time I've seen her." Jason cut him off.  
  
"What?" Both Sonny and Lucky said in unison.  
  
"At the cemetery I thought I saw her. She was off in the distance just watching. At the time I thought I was going crazy so I didn't say anything to anyone. Now I know it was her and now she is living here in this town under that alias."  
  
"Jason, do you think that this could be because of cold feet? Maybe you imagined Elizabeth because you are nerves about your wedding tomorrow."  
  
"That's not it. I'm not nerves about marring Courtney. That was Elizabeth. I know I can't explain it right now, but I feel that it's her. It's hard to explain but when Elizabeth and I were friends I used to be able to feel her even before I saw her, and since I've been in this town I've felt her all around."  
  
"Jason Elizabeth is gone. Big deal the girl looks like her, but you have to know that it's not her." Sonny said trying to confines Jason he was wrong.  
  
"I'll prove it's her." Jason whipped out his cell phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. "Kevin, its Jason. Yeah I need you to run a trace on someone, a woman by the name of Morgan Elizabeth Spencer. I need this yesterday. As soon as you get it call me on my cell."  
  
"Jason what are you going to do when you realize this girl isn't who you think she is?" Lucky asked.  
  
"I can't believe you of all people don't believe me Lucky." Jason said angrily. "Both of you know that I don't believe in ghosts or any other superstition. I deal with fact and the fact of the matter is, is that that girl is Elizabeth."  
  
Jason didn't wait for his friends to reply, he just stormed out of the hotel. He was angry, he was angry because his friends didn't believe him, he was angry with what Sonny had said because there was truth behind it, and he was mostly for letting himself think that this could be Elizabeth.  
  
Doubt started to run through his head. What if she wasn't Elizabeth? What if he had just made a big mistake and given himself false hope? Jason couldn't go through loosing her all over again; the first time was bad enough.  
  
Jason stopped just in front of the youth center. He could see Morgan's hand clearly and it was using slow strokes to paint the pains of glass. He watched mesmerized by the strokes. He used to love to watch Elizabeth paint. Half the time she thought he was asleep, but he couldn't close his eyes he had to watch her, he needed to make sure she wasn't a dream.  
  
Jason saw the lights shut off inside the youth center and watched as a young burnet appeared at the door. He didn't' know what he was doing but for some reason he walked over to her and touched her arm. It was like a bolt of lighting when their skin touched. He missed this feeling.  
  
"Don't hurt me!" she screamed.  
  
"I would never hurt you on purpose" he said releasing her arm. Jason was hurt to think that she would think that. Maybe this wasn't Elizabeth.  
  
She turned to face him. "I thought you left. What is stalking your perfusion or something'?"  
  
"Sonny and Lucky don't believe that you're Elizabeth."  
  
"Well, whoever they are tell em' is said thanks. I'm glad some people from up North have some form of common sense."  
  
"See the problem is, is that I'm not convinced. I think you are Elizabeth Webber. I have someone as we speeck checking up on you. And if my hunch is right I would say that you don't exist."  
  
"Check all you want I do exist. I mean obviously standin' here in front of you. Now if you'll excuse me I have be goin'" Elizabeth tried to move past him but Jason wouldn't let her. He wanted her to tell him the truth and he didn't mind waiting all night if he had to.  
  
"Please move. You are making me feel real uncomfortable right now." Elizabeth had a look of anger on her face, but inside she was cheering at the sight of Jason. She was excited to be close to him again.  
  
"I just want you to tell the truth. Tell me you are Elizabeth." Jason had never lost his cool. It was something he prided himself on that. He was referred to as having an icy exterior, but he was loosing it right now.  
  
He didn't even think when he grabbed her by both the arms. He wanted to shake her and make her confess. True to the Elizabeth he knew she showed no fear. She stared him down and showed that she was about to go into devil mode.  
  
"Let go of me." She said in a cool and calm voice. Elizabeth was becoming very scared at this point. The last time she had felt this way was the Valentine's day so long ago. She never thought that it would be Jason scaring her this much.  
  
"She said let her go." They both heard a southern accent. Jason did just that and both he and Elizabeth turned to see who it was. There like a knight in shining armor stood Mitch. Elizabeth had never been so happy to get away from Jason.  
  
Elizabeth ran over to Mitch. "Are you ok Morgan?"  
  
"I'm fine. I just want to go home." Both Mitch and Elizabeth started to walk away. Not meaning to and against her better judgment she looked back at Jason. Once again their eyes met and she was sure that she saw pain in his eyes.  
  
It hurt Elizabeth to lie to Jason, but she knew she had to do it. Jason couldn't think that there was a possibility she was back. Elizabeth Webber was dead as far as she was concerned and it was time for the world to except it.  
  
Jason watched as the girl he believed to be Elizabeth walk away with the guy that had come to her aid. He was cursing himself for loosing control. Maybe Sonny was right, maybe he was just looking for a reason not to marry Courtney.  
  
Jason's phone rang as he walked to the hotel. "Morgan"  
  
"Jason. It's Kevin. I got what you wanted on that girl."  
  
"And..."  
  
"And she has no police record not even a traffic ticket. There is a past listed but it seems like that up until eight months ago she never worked. It seems that the first job this girl ever took was at some crab restaurant. It's weird because it's as if she is like apart of the witness protection program, even down to her social security number."  
  
"Social security number?"  
  
"the government uses the same three numbers for everyone in the witness protection program, and only people in the program have those numbers. The girl you had me check out has those three numbers."  
  
"So she's part of the witness protection program?"  
  
"It would seem that way."  
  
"Thanks Kevin" Jason hung up his phone. Well that at least explains the why she wouldn't tell him the truth, but why was she in the program. What did she have to be protected from? It still wasn't making any sense.  
  
"Jason?" Lucky called to him the minute he stepped into the hotel. "I need to know that you are absolutely positive that that girl is Elizabeth."  
  
"Lucky it's her."  
  
"So what do we do to get her to admit it?"  
  
"I don't know. She is so convinced that she can't tell the truth about who she is. I tried to talk to her again, but some guy stepped in. I don't know the next step. I can't be the enforcer with her. I did it tonight and I scared myself."  
  
"I'll help anyway I can."  
  
"Thanks Lucky." Jason said as he began to walk up the stairs.  
  
"Hey Jason?" Lucky yelled up to him. Jason turned to face Lucky. "I'm sorry that I didn't believe you before."  
  
"Lucky I don't know if I believe yet myself."  
  
Jason turned to finish walking the steps. Many thought were racing through his head. He walked past Courtney's door on the way to his room and he then began to think about his wedding the next day. He was starting to have second thought now. How could he marry someone he wasn't in love with, and what if this girl really was Elizabeth? He knew he couldn't. The only question now was how could he tell Courtney this? 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six: The Storm  
  
Ok as most of you know this chapter took a long time to put up and for those of you who have been waiting so paitontly I'm sorry it took so long. I plan on putting up the next chapter by Saturday and that is a promise. Ok so I have to ask cause I didn't get a single review for my short I posted awhile ago, was it really that bad? I know my sister liked it but no on reviewed it. Why? Anyway I'm done talking I swear, review this one and again I'm sorry it's taken so long.  
  
Elizabeth woke early the next morning to the sound of her alarm and the knowledge that she would have to run this morning. She did that all the time now. She loved it, it gave her a chance to clear her head, and if any day she needed it most, it was today.  
  
She still hadn't gotten Jason out of her mind and she felt that she probably never would, but after last night and his wedding that was happening today he would finally be able to let her go. No she couldn't say finally she was sure he had let her go along time ago.  
  
Elizabeth got dressed and was tying her shoe laces when she heard Mitch stir from his place on the couch. She had tried with everything she had to get him to leave last night but nothing she said worked. He had said he saw the look in Jason's eyes, truth was so did Elizabeth and she couldn't figure it out.  
  
She opened the front door to the sight of a slight drizzle. I guess Courtney's going to have a rainy wedding day, she thought to herself. She picked up her rain jacket slipped it on and began to stretch on the front porch. As she stretched she once again thought of Jason. Why wouldn't he just except that Elizabeth was dead? Why did he have to prove that she was still alive? How would that help anyone?  
  
Elizabeth took her first steps and then began to run down the street. She would take her usual route today, up to the lighthouse down by the docks where the fishermen would come in and then make her way through the town. She wanted to stop by the youth center this morning and put a few last couple of touches on the pains of glass she had painted last night.  
  
It began to rain harder as she reached the lighthouse, but she was determined to finish this run. She needed to get all these thoughts out of her head. Running was what did it for her now, but she could remember a time when it used to be on a back of a motorcycle. She then began to ask herself if maybe she was being too hard on Jason? Maybe she should just come clean with him and tell him the truth? She was sure that he would hate her though.  
  
Elizabeth turned the corner down by the docks. It smelled over here and it wasn't a good smell either and the rain only seemed to intensify it. There was one thing that Elizabeth wished for now as she ran, she wished she could have seen Emily and Nicolas. She wanted to make sure they were happy and make sure they were going to be ok. She really did miss some of her old friends.  
  
The rain really seemed to be pouring now, with the thunder that was booming in the background and the lighting up ahead of her told her this was going to be one hell of a storm. Elizabeth could barely see in front of her, but luckily, she thought, I know these roads like the back of my hand, so still she pressed on. She felt free turning the corner into the heart of town and down to the youth center.  
  
Elizabeth made it to the youth center and was soaked to the bone, but she didn't care. It seemed to her that it had only washed away her thoughts from earlier. The rain made it darker then it should have been and maybe that's why she didn't see him step out of the shadows.  
  
Jason hadn't slept at all that night. He just couldn't, he was too thrilled at the thought of finding Elizabeth alive. After her death he felt lost and he knew that he would never feel like he had when they were at their happiest.  
  
He heard a knock at his door and went to answer it. There before him stood his sister. She was one of the only Quartermaines that he liked. She was so different from everyone else, she actually had a heart. She was smiling at him now and Jason ushered for her to come in.  
  
"Are you ready for today?" She asked taking a seat on the bed. Jason could tell that this wasn't what she wanted to talk about and it was defiantly wasn't something he wanted to talk about either.  
  
"Em, what is it that you really want?" He asked her.  
  
"Jason, I want to make sure that Courtney is the right girl for you. I'm your little sister and I need to know that you are going to marry the woman you love." He loved her for caring so much, but he knew that he owed it to Courtney to tell her first and not his sister.  
  
Jason was just about to answer is sister when she spoke again. "I talked to Lucky last night. He said you thought you saw Elizabeth."  
  
"Lucky shouldn't have said anything."  
  
"Look I know what it's like to loose someone you love, and don't tell me that you didn't love her because I use to see the way you would look at her. I mean everyone knew you guys were in love."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Jason didn't like were this was going. He just couldn't talk about Elizabeth with anyone, not even her best friend.  
  
"Come on Jason. Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that you weren't in love with Elizabeth?"  
  
"Elizabeth and I never said we loved each other."  
  
"Just because you don't say something doesn't mean that you don't feel that way. Look at me and Nicolas, for a long time we wouldn't admit to each other how we felt. Come on Jason everyone saw that you guys were madly in love. Maybe that's why you think you saw her, or are you telling me that you really saw my dead best friend?'  
  
"I don't know what I saw."  
  
"Well maybe you should think about it. I'll see you at the church later." She got up from her place on the bed and gave her brother a hug and walked out the door to leave him deep in his thoughts.  
  
He needed to tell Courtney, she needed to know about all this. She wasn't going to be very happy about this and Jason knew that, but he owed it to tell her. He couldn't even remember why he and Courtney even got together in the first place. No, that was a lie and he knew why. He was mad at Elizabeth and he wanted to get back at her. He wanted her to feel the way he had when he had found Elizabeth and Zander together.  
  
Jason could only remember three times when he had felt pain and they all involved Elizabeth. The first was when he had found her with Zander, he blamed himself for that though, he should have been there to make sure nothing was going to happen to her. The second time was when he had lied to Elizabeth, she had said so many things that hurt, and again he blamed himself for that. The last was her death, which was the one that hurt the most, at least with the other times he knew she would still be around, but when she died he felt his world crash in and his heart stop. Carly and Sonny were his best friends, but no one knew Jason like Elizabeth did, hell she was the only one that ever saw him at his lowest points in life and she was the one that got him through all his pain. Maybe that was why he needed this girl to be Elizabeth, he needed her to help him get over her death and he knew that if she was Elizabeth then there would be no death to get over. .  
  
Sonny didn't like the phone call he had gotten early that morning. Kevin had called and told Sonny everything that he had told Jason. It wasn't that Sonny didn't want Elizabeth to be alive. He liked Elizabeth and had considered her a friend, but that still didn't mean that he wanted his little sister to get hurt, and he knew that was what was going to happen this girl really was Elizabeth.  
  
Sonny knew how Jason felt for Elizabeth and how much she meant to him. Sonny knew that had it not been for Elizabeth, his best friend and brother would have been found in the snow dead four years earlier.  
  
There was so much that Sonny owed Elizabeth, but his family obligation meant that he couldn't betray his sister. If this girl really was Elizabeth then, Sonny hoped he could talk to her again before Jason did so he could talk to her and ask her to stay away form Jason.  
  
Sonny took a good long look in the mirror and hoped this was all for the best. He owed so much to Jason and all he wanted was for his friend to be happy. Courtney made him happy, right? Sonny knew though that the happiest he ever saw Jason was when he was with Elizabeth.  
  
Courtney was awoken by a knock at her door. "Who is it?" she asked through the door.  
  
"It's me." She heard Jason's voice from the other side of the door, "Can I come in?"  
  
Courtney had a smile on her face. This was the day she was to marry Jason and spend the rest of her life with him. She wasn't a superstitious person, but she didn't want to take any chances today. "Jason hasn't anyone told you that it's unlucky to see your bride before the wedding?"  
  
Jason wasn't in the mood to play games, he need to talk to her and she wasn't making it very easy. "Courtney it's important, I need to talk to you."  
  
"Jason I'm sorry but I'm not going to open the door so what ever you have to say just say it through the door." She hoped it would be something romantic, even though she knew that wasn't Jason's style. She loved him so much and with everything that had happened to them she couldn't wait till they were pronounced husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.  
  
"Courtney I would much rather say this to your face." Jason told her. He was becoming annoyed. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt someone who didn't disserve it but he knew that his heart would never belong to her and it wasn't fair for her to marry a man who didn't feel the same way she did.  
  
"Just say it Jason, because under no circumstances are you getting into this room until after the ceremony." Her smile was stretched across her face now, he always made her smile.  
  
Jason was fed up and knew there was no reasoning with her so he just blurted it out. "There's not going to be a ceremony today, Courtney. There's not going to be a ceremony ever."  
  
Courtney's smile left her face right away and was replaced by tears in her eyes. She rushed to open the doors and cursed herself for locking the door and causing her to take longer to open it. When she finally unlocked the door he was gone. That was when she heard the thunder and noticed that it was raining outside. Funny how the rain matched the tears in her eyes, she sunk to the floor in a deep sob over Jason Morgan. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven:  
  
Carly frowned as she looked out the window of the hotel at the storm. She hopped that the rain would stop by the time they were supposed to go to the church. Wedding days were supposed to be bright and cheery, not stormy. She had so many wedding days to pick from, most were to Sonny, but her favorite was the one on the island. Her best wedding ever, and that was the type of wedding she had dreamed for Jason and Courtney, so the rain had to stop soon, Carly demanded it.  
  
Carly came out of the room, she and Sonny and the kids had gotten for the week, to get some ice. Even thought it was raining she was sure that today was going to be a good day. Her best friend was about to marry the type of girl she was sure he was meant to be with, a girl like her.  
  
Carly rounded the corner to the ice machine and was surprised to see that the door to Courtney's room was wide open. Carly raced to make sure she was alright, that nothing like last time had happened. Carly wanted their day to be perfect and the last thing Jason and Courtney needed was to have another attempt to the altar ruined.  
  
But what Carly saw made her heart stop. There in the middle of the floor was a crying Courtney. She looked terrible and Carly felt for her. She put her arms around her, "Shh...shh..shh.Courtney honey what happened?"  
  
Courtney looked up at Carly with tears in her eyes. She knew Carly wanted to help, but Courtney couldn't bring herself to tell her what had happened, because she was sure that if she spoke it out loud then it would be true. The thoughts of Jason that were racing through her head made her cry even more. "He...he..." she couldn't finish.  
  
"What happened? Where's Jason, Courtney?"  
  
"He's gone." Courtney wailed in Carly's arms. "He came to my room..." she cried "He came and told me he couldn't..he said he's not going to marry me. Why? Why would he say that? I don't understand. Why would he do this Carly?"  
  
Carly didn't know what to tell her, but she was mad. She wasn't mad at Jason, she was sure this wasn't his doing, no she was mad at Elizabeth, after Carly had trusted her not to go after Jason. Now she was mad at herself for believing that pasty muffin Carly was seeing red now and all she wanted to do was find Elizabeth and beat her to no end.  
  
"Where is he, Courtney?"  
  
"I don't know." Tears flowed from her eyes. "When I opened the door he was gone." She sat in Carly's arms and cried. How would he do this? Weren't they happy last night at dinner? Courtney just didn't understand. What had she done for Jason to fall out of love with her? He had loved her right? Was he cheating on her? No he wouldn't, beside the only competition she had ever had to worry about was Elizabeth and she was dead. What then? Courtney just didn't understand, but the more the questions raced through her head the more tears she had.  
  
"Carly? Courtney?" came Sonny's voice from the hall. "What's going on? Courtney is something wrong?" He asked at he entered the room and saw the two women on the floor. "Courtney?" he asked again but all he heard were her sobs. "Carly?" he now questioned as he looked at his wife.  
  
Carly looked up at her husband and shook her head; this told Sonny not to push it, that she would tell him later. Sonny went and sat on the bed so that he was sitting next to his sister. How was he going to comfort her? He thought. He had an idea of why she was crying, but he still didn't know what to do about it, so he sat there, they all just sat and all that was heard were sobs form the blond in the middle of the room.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Even in a storm this town had a charm to it, Jason thought as he walked down the street. He didn't know where he was going he just knew that there had to be distance between him and Courtney. He had a knot in his stomach for calling things off with her, but his heart was wide open and he knew it was because he had found the one girl he was meant to be with, he had found Elizabeth again.  
  
"Boy he best get in here and get out of this storm." An older woman called from a diner in front of him. Jason wasn't sure if she was talking to him though. "Yes I'm talking to you." She said as if hearing the thought in his head.  
  
Jason half trotted over to the diner and was greeted with a smile for the woman. "Now take off the wet jacket and shirt." Jason didn't move, what was she trying to do? "Well hurry up." She said throwing him another t-shirt. "Don't worry I'm not going to take advantage of you, besides this place is to full for me to." She said laughing.  
  
That was when Jason looked around and saw that the place was pretty crowded. He went and sat down at a table and took off his wet jacket and changed into the shirt that the woman had given him. She walked over to him again. "By the way my name is Angie."  
  
"Jason." He told her as he shook her hand.  
  
"So Jason what can I get for you?" she asked  
  
"Anything to warm me up, the rain was a little cold."  
  
"Well what were you doing walking in the rain in the first place?"  
  
"Just need to get away from the hotel."  
  
"Oh, you must be here for the wedding that them Yankees are having down here. I swear you Yanks are just a curious bunch."  
  
Jason smiled at her; he couldn't get over these people down here. He didn't understand how they called the people up north a "curious bunch", when down here they were as backwards as anyone he had ever met. Oh well just a different point of view he thought.  
  
"Well, I'll get you some chili then Jason."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Angie walked back to the kitchen to get some of the chili. That boy was cute she didn't' care where he was from, but he was still too young for her, and she was happily married. Still cute though she thought.  
  
Jason sat at the table and waited for his chili, and was surprised to see the waitress that had served them last night at dinner was staring at him. He flashed her a smile, but she didn't return the gesture. And here I thought people were supposed to be nice in the South, he thought. Jason noticed that she still hadn't stopped staring though.  
  
Katie knew him the minute he walked in the door. He was that cute groom from last night. He was the one that Mitch had said almost attacked Morgan. She knew that Morgan knew him, but after what Mitch had said she didn't want him anywhere near Morgan. Katie didn't know what had taken over her body but she was moving towards him now.  
  
Jason noticed that she was walking his way now. What did she want from him? She sat across from him without even asking. Jason just hopped she wasn't trying to hit on him or something; he didn't need that right now.  
  
"Katie," came Angie's voice. "What are you doing girl? Do I have to call Justin?" she asked as she placed the chili in front of Jason.  
  
"Angie I just came over to say hello. I met him last night at the restaurant, he's the groom." She said smiling at the older woman.  
  
"That better be all you're doing. The last thing this town needs is another one of ya'll's fights. Hell the last one ya'll had was enough for us to handle."  
  
"The fight was two years ago. Get over it."  
  
"I'm not playing with you Katie. This boy's about to get married and Lord knows Justin will kill you. So say her hello's and then leave the boy alone. You hear."  
  
"Yes maim." Katie said as Angie walked back to some other customers. Katie then looked over at Jason and he was surprised to see that her eyes were as cold as his were when he was Jason Morgan right hand man of Sonny Corinthos. "I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen and listen closely. You stay away from Morgan."  
  
"What business is it of yours?" Jason asked  
  
"I heard what you did last night and all I'm telling you is to stay away from her. She's not who you think she is. Just leave her alone, get married and then get the hell out of town." She got up from where she had been sitting and made her way to the front door of the restaurant. "Enjoy your chili and I hope clears before your wedding." She said smiling at him and with that she was out the door.  
  
Well that was pleasant, Jason thought, I hope I don't piss anyone else off by trying to find out the truth about Elizabeth. Jason finished his chili in silence and left the money, with a big tip, on the table and was about to leave when he heard Angie's voice again.  
  
"Here you best take this." She said handing him an umbrella. "This way you don't' get to wet."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"If you get hungry or anything you come see me again."  
  
"I will and thanks again."  
  
"No problem, Jason. See you later." He walked out the door and to where he wasn't sure. Should he go look for Elizabeth or take what that little girl had said to heart. He was so confused; he needed some kind of guidance, a divine intervention of sorts. That was when he realized he was headed in the direction of the church.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Carly and Sonny were in the hallway now, Courtney had cried herself to sleep and they left her on the bed. "What happened Carly?" Sonny asked her  
  
"Courtney said that Jason told her that the wedding was off. He apparently came to her this morning and just told her it was over." Carly knew she was mad and she knew that it showed as she talked  
  
"Did she say why he called it off?"  
  
"Oh I know why he called it off. He called it off cause she came and talked to him. And you and I both know she always manipulated him. Oh that little brat."  
  
"Who?" Sonny questioned  
  
Carly knew she screwed up in not keeping Elizabeth's secret, but she was mad and she didn't care, Sonny deserved to know, hell the whole town deserved to know. "Elizabeth Webber." She spat with some venom.  
  
Sonny's curiosity was immediately was peaked, what did Carly know about Elizabeth Webber? "Elizabeth Webber is dead, Carly." Sonny told her acting dumb.  
  
"That's what she wants you to think, but I saw her. She actually works at that restaurant we ate at last night. Can you believe she told me she was going to stay away from Jason? She told me that she didn't want anyone to know that she was alive, so I told her I wouldn't tell anyone, but the first chance she gets, she comes and ruins their wedding.  
  
"It wasn't her." Sonny told her. "Jason came in last night and told us he had seen her. He said she tried to deny who she really was, but Jason being who he is didn't believe her. Carly she really didn't want to ruin their wedding. I'm sure of that."  
  
Sonny didn't know what to do next though, but he knew he had to do something. Without saying a word he walked down the hall and out the door of the hotel into the rain.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
He watched her as she painted. She had changed out of her wet cloths but her hair was still soaking. He hadn't seen her in so long and he still couldn't believe that she was still alive. He had seen her body and yet here she was in the flesh, doing what she loved. He knew she hadn't seen him yet and was nervous about confronting her.  
  
He watched her some more and decided that it was going to be now or never. He hoped she would understand why he needed to see her, he hoped that she wouldn't be too angry with him.  
  
A/N: ok here's the deal, I know who I want this mystery man to be, but I'm going to let you guys vote on it. Will it be Lucky? He does know that she's back and that was one of his closes friends. Will it be Sonny? He has just found out that his sister's wedding day has been ruined and maybe he's here to give her a piece of his mind. Or will it be a mystery person that I've been thinking about including in this story? It's up to you guys to decide. First one to five votes wins. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Old Friends

He watched her as she painted, he watched as the brush stroked across the canvas. He marveled at how wonderful her technique was. She had changed out of her wet clothes but her hair was still very much soaked. Her hair was longer since the last time he had seen her. It had been so long since he had laid eyes upon her, and here she was in the flesh doing the thing she loved most in this world.

He had snuck into the youth center and was sure she had yet to see him since her music was blaring and he had stayed mainly in the shadows. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed her until this very moment. He knew that he would not be happy just knowing she was alive, for he had mourned her and deserved an explanation as to why she would do something such as faking her own death. He knew that it was now or never, so mustering up all his courage he walked out of the shadows towards her.

As he walked closer to her he wondered how he hadn't known she was alive before this time. How had he not been able to scence her before now? How?

He tentively reached out his had to tap her on the shoulder. His had hesitated for just a brief moment before it finally met its mark.

"Holy Crap!" shouted the started girl in a southern drawl. Turning as she spoke "You could give someone a heart attack." When her eyes finally met his she let down her guard and he was able to see the girl in front of him as the girl he had only said goodbye to eight months ago.

"Elizabeth?" he whispered.

Staring into his eyes she couldn't do it. She could not knowing stand before him and lie to his face. Even she could not be as heartless as to lie to one of the only people she had ever truly allowed herself to love with all she had.

"Lucky" she whispered back as tears began to pool in her eyes. Without saying anything the two old friends closed the gap between them and embraced in a hug.

~*~*~*~

One could only cry for so long before the tears gave up and your body in exhaustion just allowed yourself to go numb. That was how Courtney Mathews felt at that moment; numb. She had awoken that morning the happiest she had ever felt in her life. She was going to marry the man she loved and they were going to ride away in the sunset and have their happy ending. That was just a distant memory now because Jason had come in here and taken it away.

She was still lying in the bed where Sonny had put her after she had had her breakdown this morning. She could hear him and Carly in the hallway just outside her door. She didn't really hear them though. She knew they were talking and if the pain was not present she may have been able to understand them, but nothing was getting through, nothing that was until she heard Carly say Elizabeth's name that she really began to understand.

Courtney lifted her head off of the bed so she was able to hear better. She listened as Carly told Sonny all about seeing Elizabeth at the restaurant last night. How Elizabeth promised she didn't want to break up the wedding. Then Sonny actually defended Elizabeth, telling Carly that she tried to play as if she was someone else instead of herself.

That was it. That was why Jason had come to her this morning breaking her heart. He now knew that Elizabeth was alive and would stop at nothing to have her back in his life. It didn't come as a surprise to Courtney that Jason would choose Elizabeth over her, but it still didn't stop the pain that was ripping at her heart. Jason had always had a special place for Elizabeth in his heart, a place that no one would ever be able to reach, but that hadn't stopped Courtney from trying. She found out only this morning however, he hadn't even let her get her own place in his heart.

Courtney felt like such a fool. She had let herself believe that she deserved a happy ending with the man she loved. How could she have been so stupid? Well she was going to be dammed if she would allow herself to crawl back to Port Charles with her tail between her legs and have everyone look at her with pity. No she wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

~*~*~*~

Lucky wasn't sure how long he and Elizabeth had stood in that embrace nor did he care. He was just happy to actually be able to put his arms around someone he had believed was dead. He wondered if this was how she felt when he had come back from the fire a few years ago.

He needed her to explain to him. He needed her to tell him why she had left everyone. He needed to hear her tell him why not only she needed to run away from everyone she needed to make sure no one would come looking. He slowly began to pull away from her and found himself staring into her sapphire eyes. "So I guess you're not dead?" he let out with a state the obvious laugh.

She responded with a small laugh of her own, "No I guess not." Her smile was small but Lucky was glad to see it. He looked around the youth center until his eyes fell upon a small sitting area and led her to it.

Once they were sitting down, Lucky still holding her hand to make sure she wouldn't vanish, he asked the million dollar question. "Why?"

She knew she had to explain but trying to find the right words was hard for her. This was not an easy explanation, but she tried because she did owe it to him. "Umm… the truth?" nodded his head for her to continue "Ric"

"Ric?"

The tears started to pool in her eyes again as she tried to elaborate, "I thought at the time that I left it was to protect everyone. I had found out a few weeks before I left that Ric had been druging me, putting birth control in my orange juice. I confronted him but he only turned around on me and then threaded everyone I cared about. He told me he would do horrible things and he said the first person he would start with would have been Grams."

Lucky squeezed her hand as she continued, "I thought of going to someone for help, but I realized I had no one to turn to. To you know what it feels like when you have nowhere to go? That's how I felt when I made the decision to not just run from him but to start over. I was so sick of where I was in my life at Port Charles that I thought it would have been better for everyone if ," she took a deep breath. "If… if Elizabeth Webber were dead.

"I wanted to make sure he wouldn't come looking for me so I went to an old friend" Elizabeth knew better then to tell Lucky it was Luke that had helped her, "and he helped me follow through on my plan."

Lucky had listened to every word she had said but even he couldn't help the way he was looking at her now, for even he knew that he was looking at her as if she had grown three heads. "You could have come to me. I would have helped you. How do you think for even one second everyone would have been better off without you?"

"I know it wasn't the wisest decision I've ever made, but once I put the wheels in motion there was no stopping it."

"Why didn't you come back after Ric died?"

"And say what? How would I explain that? It had been months since my 'death' I couldn't just walk into Kelly's and order a burger and pretend like it was nothing. So I stayed, and to be honest I like it here."

Lucky reached over and pulled her back into his arms for another hug, "I'm glad you're not dead."

"I'm glad you're glad I'm not dead." She pulled back from him to look at him. "How mad are you with me?"

"I'm not mad with you. I'm mad with me for not being there for you, for not protecting you."

"Protect me? I was protecting you by running away. I don't know what I would have done if Ric would have hurt you."

"You sure know how to pick 'em, Webber." Lucky joked.

Giving Lucky a small push, Elizabeth smiled. "If I recall I picked you once."

"Yeah and look how well that turned out. First I ditch you in a fire, then I dump you at the altar and let's not forget the time I slept with your sister."

"Right. Why are we still friends again?"

It felt good to joke with Lucky, it felt right. She hadn't felt herself in months and for once she was able to be truthful with someone. She had no worries about covering up for a past she was running away from.

"So how's life?" Lucky asked.

Elizabeth mad herself more comfortable on the couch as she began to tell Lucky all about her new life and how she had been the last eight months. He also filled her in on the happenings of Port Charles.

After awhile Lucky finally noticed the clock on the wall behind Elizabeth. He had about an hour or so to be ready to leave for the church. "I hate to cut this short, but I have to get ready for the wedding." Lucky saw the look of disappointment on her face. "Hey I'll come back when it's over. We can catch up more then."

Elizabeth gave him a small smile. "I would like that." She stood and started walking with him to the door. "You know I still don't think I'm ever going to get used to you and Jason being friends. It just seems so unnatural."

"If you'll remember we were friends before the fire. I believe it was you that broke that friendship up."

"Don't blame me for that. It's not my fault that while you were gone he and I became friends and then when you came back you went all crazy jealous and attacked him." She fired back

"True, but in my defense I was under some mind control spell by the wicked witch." He said and then smiled "Besides with you out of the picture we became friends again."

"I just don't get it. What could you and Jason have in common?"

"You" he said seriously. "In the beginning we mostly talked about you."

"Why would you talk about me? I wasn't even a blip on his radar when I left town. He and I hadn't shared two words in months. What could he have to say about me? Besides Jason isn't one to look back on things."

"Maybe that's how it was before you left. He told me all about what you guys had you know. He explained to me about that connection you shared. I didn't get it when you and I were together, I didn't get it when you and he were together, but I get it now."

"It doesn't matter anymore." She said with sadness in her voice "He's going to marry Courtney and you're going to be late if you don't leave now." She finished with one of her signature fake smiles that no one could really tell was fake.

They embraced in a hug once more before Lucky went out into what was now a small drizzle. She watched him half run down the street in the direction of the hotel and as the last little bit of Lucky all but disappeared she had an epiphany. She was going to make this right by telling the big guns upstairs.

While living here she had embraced everything that the Catholic faith had taught her and one of those teachings was the power of confession. She walked over and grabbed her bag deciding to go to the church and confess to Father O'Brien. She just hoped he would have her done and out of there before the wedding started, because even she knew she wasn't strong enough to watch Jason marry someone else.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine:Confessions and Realizations

Elizabeth walked into the sanctuary at the church and was greeted to it being decorated to the nines for the wedding ceremony that was to take place in just a few hours. The décor was a little to tacky for her taste, she imagined it was something Carly must have put together. She searched around looking for her priest and found him in his office preparing for the ceremony.

She tapped lightly on his office door to announce her presence "Father O'Brien?"

He looked up from his papers "Morgan, how are you?"

"I'm fine, but I was wondering if you were very busy?"

The priest glanced down at his watch "I suppose I have a few minutes to spare. What can I do for you?"

"Well I know that confession is normally on Friday, but I was hoping…" she let the question hang, hoping he would understand. She knew that it was silly that after talking to Lucky she felt the need to unload everything on her priest, but she just couldn't help herself. She felt the need to just be truthful with everyone she knew.

"I suppose that would be fine." Father O'Brien said to her. He led her over to the sitting area he kept in his office. He sat down in his worn out wing back chair while Elizabeth took a seat on the couch. He had told everyone that he put the couch in so that people would feel more comfortable when meeting with him, all the old women of the parish believed it was so he could take an afternoon nap. "Or would you prefer to go into the confessionals?" He asked after they were seated.

"No this is fine… I think that it's best that I tell you what I have to say to your face anyway." She said a little nervous.

"Whenever you're ready to start," He urged her on "I'm ready to listen."

"Well….. I guess I should tell you that I've been living a lie." She began avoiding his eyes and continued on with her story. "I'm not who I've been pretending to be. My real name is Elizabeth Webber, I'm from Port Charles, New York and I changed my name to escape my husband."

Father O'Brien was quiet for a long moment while he took in all of what she had said.

"I know it wasn't right for me to lie Father, but at the time when I left I actually had faked my own death, so I guess I've been lying to everyone for eight months."

"Tell me Morgan, or do you prefer Elizabeth?"

"I think I would like for you to still call me Morgan."

"Morgan it is then. Tell me do you feel bad and remorseful for the lies that you have told?"

"I regret telling any lie that may have hurt anyone, but I cannot say that I regret the decisions that I made that caused me to tell those lies. I know this is going to sound crazy, Father, but I know that Elizabeth Webber did die that day on the road. I could never go back to that life she lived. I'm Morgan now and I would like to stay that way."

"Have you told anyone else about this?"

"Yes Father, I told my close friends here about my past and I have also talked to an old friend that knew me as Elizabeth."

"Where do you plan on going from here?"

"I know that I want to stay here in Dublin Creek. I still want to be Morgan, but I do miss my family and friends that I left behind. I just don't know how to make them forgive me."

"The best place to start Morgan is with yourself. You have to forgive yourself for your choices, God already has."

"What if they don't forgive me?"

"You won't know until you try." On that note Father O'Brien signed the cross in front of her and gave a small blessing. "You are absolved of your sins. You must say three rosaries and be honest when asked about your past."

Elizabeth stood "Thank you Father, thank you for everything."

Father O'Brien also stood to walk her to his office door. "Just remember to be honest from now on."

Smiling Elizabeth said "I will and thank you again." She walked out of his office with a little wave to her priest. She looked around once again at the tacky sanctuary and hoped that Jason was happy.

~*~*~*~

Courtney stood on the bus station platform in the rain waiting for the bus that would take her back to Port Charles. It had been easier then she thought it would have been to sneak out of the hotel. It was if no one cared what she did, even Carly was nowhere to be found.

As soon as she had left the hotel she hauled it over to the bus station and bought the first ticket back to Port Charles, not that she would be there for long either. She planned to go back to the penthouse, pack her things and place them in storage and head over to London. She had already bought the plane ticket.

She just couldn't believe this was all happening to her all because of some dead girl. Why couldn't she just stay dead? Why did she have to show up the weekend I was suppose to get married? Courtney just couldn't get over her bad luck.

As the bus pulled up to the platform and she got on she just hoped that once she got to Europe she would find her real prince charming and have the life she was meant to have.

~*~*~*~

Lucky rushed into the lobby knowing that he was running behind and that Courtney would have his hide for it. He never would have guessed what a bridezilla she turned out to be. As Lucky made his way to the stairs to rush and get ready he noticed an unready Emily and Nicolas speaking with Emily's parents, the Drs. Quartermain.

"Lucky where have you been?" Emily asked as he came closer to the group.

"I just went out to scope out the town for a while." He lied easily covering where he had really been and with who. "Em, why aren't you ready?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"That's why we've been looking for you, the wedding is off Lucky." She told him

"What happen, Bridezilla break a nail and have a melt down?" He asked making a joke about Courtney's behavior.

Lightly taping Lucky, Emily smiled "No. Jason is the one who called it off. He went to her this morning and told her there wasn't going to be a wedding." Emily got a small frown on her face "I hope this didn't have anything to do with what I told him this morning."

"What did you say to him?" Nicolas said joining the conversation.

"Nothing, I just went to make sure that he was going to marry the woman he was in love with and then somehow we got to talking about Elizabeth." Emily noticed at the mere mention of Elizabeth, Lucky got a worried look on his face. She stared at Lucky as he fidgeted. "Lucky? What aren't you telling me?"

Lucky shifted nervously under Emily's watchful eye. "Nothing."

"You believe Jason don't you? You think he saw Elizabeth alive and breathing and going by some other name." Emily watched Lucky shift uncomfortably again. "You do."

"I didn't say that Emily." Lucky said defensively.

"Do you really think Elizabeth is alive?" This time not only did Lucky shift slightly he also refused to meet her eyes. As Emily realized what exactly Lucky was not saying a look of utter shock came over her.

"Emily?" Nicolas asked his wife

"OH MY GOD!! She's alive? Lucky are you telling me she's alive?" Lucky met her eyes then and Emily saw the truth. Her best friend was alive and was for reasons Emily didn't understand going by a different name. "What do you know Lucky?" she demanded.

"I had to know Em, I had to know that Jason wasn't just saying these things. I found her. It's Elizabeth."

"Take me to her." Emily said as she grabbed onto Lucky's forearm and dragged him out of the hotel lobby and back into the rain.


End file.
